


In Her Darkness

by BlueHoneyBee



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Dark One Emma Swan, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-15
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:14:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 28,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26490973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueHoneyBee/pseuds/BlueHoneyBee
Summary: Rumple tries to free himself from his dark side, but sorely underestimates the strength the darkness has. Emma is stuck in love with a woman she is convinced she can never have, and is losing hope at ever having happiness again. Regina is desperate to please Robin, still foolishly believing he is her true love. What happens when fate combines these three things together?
Relationships: Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Emma Swan
Comments: 14
Kudos: 173
Collections: Swan Queen Supernova V: Forever Starstruck





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [In Her Darkness [Fanart]](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25829404) by [NikiFrost](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NikiFrost/pseuds/NikiFrost). 



> My first protostar story! Based on the beautiful artwork by the amazing NikiFrost!
> 
> Also a big shoutout to Krissy, the love of my life and my constant cheerleader, thank you for all your help!

“Yes, it’s working.” The old man sighed in relief. If this were any other spell, any other concoction, if his soul hadn’t been beaten and battered down to almost nothing, he’d be skipping around in glee. Instead, he simply carried on, adding the next ingredient and the next. The first time he heard of this serum, he wanted to use it to forget Belle. Now he hoped to use it to win her back.

The liquid turned red, and the concoction seemed to be finished. He sighed again. If this worked, he could be rid of his dark side. He could be his own man again. 

He pulled some of the liquid from the beaker into a pipette, and filled a vial, not wanting to drink the whole thing, lest he need more later. 

He swirled the vial around in his hand and took a deep breath to prepare himself, before lifting the vial to his lips and knocking the serum back like a shot, swallowing it in one gulp and shaking off the taste.

He waited a moment, wondering how exactly this all would feel. Perhaps he wouldn’t feel anything. Maybe he had to wait till morning to feel any different.

Before he could wonder any more, he felt a painful pull in his gut, doubling him over in pain. He let out a gut wrenching scream as it felt like his spine was being ripped out from him. The pain was excruciating, and he wasn’t sure if it went on for hours or mere seconds, but when it was over, he was almost completely passed out in a heap on the floor, and the last thing he heard was an all too familiar impish giggle. 

“Poor old Rumplestiltskin...You never could get rid of me, could you?” The dark one chuckled. “But maybe now, I can finally be rid of you.”

* * *

It was raining outside. But one couldn’t expect much else from a Storybrooke Fall. ‘Wet’ seemed to be the permanent setting for this town, even the summers were unbearably humid. Sometimes Emma wondered if the weather in this place was a curse of its own that she had yet to help break. 

“Emma? Love? are you listening to me?” a british accent hit her senses like a scent that wasn’t necessarily bad but was too strong for her liking. 

“Hmm? Yeah...of course.” Emma said. Hook sighed and shook his head. 

“I don’t understand. I thought things were going well between us. Why now? when things are finally peaceful and we could settle and start a decent life together?” he asked. A musical laugh from the booth at the front of the diner stole away Emma’s attention, and Hook was compelled to look behind him and see who it was. Of course, the former queen. Regina was sitting with Robin, shaking her head at him with an unreadable smile on her face. Hook sighed. 

“So that’s it then...Nothing I can do, say, or give you will ever live up to her, will it?” he asked.

“I’m sorry.” Emma sighed. “I tried, Killian, I really did. I genuinely thought it was you. But…”

“There were too many opportunities for the magic to show us, and it never did.” He nodded. “I should have known.”

“I should have too.” Emma said. “I just...I can’t  _ feel  _ for you like…”

“Like you do for her.” Killian nodded. “I understand.”

“You do?”

“For the most part at least. I can’t understand why you’d leave me for a woman you can’t even have - unless you’re planning less than ethical methods.” He raised a brow at 

“No.” Emma shook her head. “I think they’re pretty set for each other.”

“Then why end it with me?”

“Because I don’t want to live a lie.” Emma shrugged. “And you deserve to be with someone who actually loves you.”

“I don’t think I can love someone like I do you, Swan.” He shook his head. 

“Maybe you can but just haven’t found her.” Emma shrugged. “Would you even still want me, knowing what you know now?”

“I’d find a way.” He shrugged.

“I don’t want that for either of us.” Emma said, looking down at her hot cocoa. “I want you to be happy, I really do.”

“What about your happiness?” He asked. She shrugged.

“Don’t worry about me, I’ll be okay.”

“As long as you don’t go jumping into portals, eh?” He gave her a soft smirk. She shook her head.

“Promise.” She smiled at him gently. “Friends?”

“Aye.” He nodded. “Give me some time, and then we’ll sit down for a drink, as mates.”

“Sounds good.” She nodded. “I should go, dad’s manning that station on his own and I should let him go for lunch.”

“You haven’t eaten yet.” Hook pointed out.

“I put my order in to go.” Emma shrugged as she got up. “I’ll see you around Killian.”

“See you around Swan.” he said, she lingered for a minute, and then walked away. 

“How’d it go?” Ruby asked as she handed Emma the take out container with her lunch.

“Better than expected.” Emma sighed. “Thanks Rubes.” 

“Anytime Em.” the younger girl smiled at her.

“Drinks tonight?” Emma asked.

“Oh uhh.” Ruby hesitated. “I uh...Can’t...I have a date.”

“Date?” Emma smirked at her. “With who?”

“Uhhhhmmmm.” Ruby chewed on her lip.

“Rubes. Spill!” Emma urged.

“Belle.” Ruby shrugged shyly. Emma nodded.

“Knew it.” She said with a soft smile. “You two have fun.”

“You sure you’re okay?” Ruby asked. 

“I’ll be fine.” Emma shrugged. “Give it a couple days, I’ll be back to my old self in no time.”

“If you’re sure.” Ruby said.

“I am. I have to go though. You have fun tonight...text me details?” she asked.

“For sure!” Ruby nodded. “See you later.”

“Yeah, later.” Emma said, grabbing her food and heading out the door. 

She should have been watching where she was going, really she should have. But she wasn’t. And that’s how she ended up bumping into the side of none other than Regina Mills.

“Oh, shit. Sorry.” Emma sighed, saving the life of her lunch by a hair. “Sorry Regina. My head’s not on straight today.”

“Emma…” Regina smiled at her, narrowing her eyes as if she was trying to read Emma. “Are you okay?”

“Just...a lot on my mind.” Emma shrugged, giving Regina a smile back. The brunette raised a brow at her, and then looked over the blonde’s shoulder to see Hook leaving the diner, a depressed look on his face, looking down as he brushed past them both without a word to either of them. The former queen’s eyes met Emma’s once again, and she nodded in understanding. 

“If you need anything…” Regina said. Emma shrugged.

“I’ll be okay.” Emma said. “You picking Henry up from school?”

“Actually I wanted to ask you about that.” Regina said. “I was hoping you could take him tonight? I sort of...have dinner plans.”

“Sure.” Emma nodded. “I’ll pick him up.” 

“Thank you, Emma, I owe you one.” Regina smiled at her. 

“Yeah, sure.” Emma tried to keep her smile in place, but knew she was failing from the look Regina gave her. “I should go, I need to let dad go for his lunch break.”

“Of course.” Regina nodded. “Emma?”

“Hmm?” the blonde looked up at her once again.

“If you ever need anything, you know where to find me right?” 

“I’m okay, Regina, really.” Emma shrugged. “I’ll be fine.”

“I’m sure.” Regina nodded. Emma wanted to say something else, but it died on the tip of her tongue, so she just gave Regina a soft smile, dipped her head forward, and walked on, hopping into her car and driving away.

She didn’t really notice the worried look Regina gave her as she watched her leave. It might have mattered if she had.

When she arrived at the station, Emma was surprised to see her mother there with her baby brother. 

“Oh. Hi Emma.” Snow said.

“Hey mom.” She said as she walked in. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, your father and I had lunch plans.” Snow said.

“Yeah.” David nodded, taking baby Neil out of Snow’s hands. “Wanna spend some time with this little guy.”

“Oh.” Emma tried not to openly frown. “I thought he was at daycare.”

“Well your father and I decided we wanted some extra family time.” Snow said, realization coming over her face as she said it, getting a raised brow from Emma. “We...would have also invited you of course but...I mean...someone has to watch the station right?”

“As long as we have the station phones on us, not really.” Emma shrugged. “I thought dad was rushing me for lunch because he was hungry.” 

“Oh I uhm...I...am? I am.” David nodded too fast for anything coming from his mouth to be convincing. 

“Well...The thing is that we made a reservation at the cafe on the other side of town...Adding an extra person might not be possible right now...Maybe you can...make plans with Killian?” Snow suggested with a smile.

“Killian and I broke up.” Emma said.

“What?” both her parents said.

“Yeah...just now, actually.” Emma said, trying not to grind her teeth into dust behind her turse lips. “It’s fine. I’m fine. You guys go ahead, I have lunch anyway.”

“Emma…” Snow tried.

“Just go, you guys, really.” Emma said stiffly. Suddenly, the light above her head started flickering threateningly. David, who had Neil in his arms, took a half step back, that Emma noticed all too clearly. 

“Well...If you need us.”

“I’ll be fine.” Emma said, sitting down in the Sheriff’s chair a bit too roughly and blowing a few papers off her desk thanks to the magic she could feel sparking at her fingertips.

From the corner of her eye, she caught her mother’s concerned, almost scared look, and the way she glanced at her father and his confused shrug and just as concerned expression.

“Guys, I have some stuff I need to take care of. Could you just...go...please?” she said, the power surging and the lights going out for a moment before they came back on. 

“Emma honey, I think you should calm down.” Snow said

The power surged again. 

“Okay.” David said in his ‘stern’ voice. “Snow, let’s go.”

Snow opened her mouth to say something, but David grabbed her arm and Neil’s stroller and pulled her out of the building. 

“David!” Snow protested when they’d exited the building. “What the hell was that?!”

“I think we pushed a button or two, honey, I’m just trying to avoid an accident.” David said. “You know her magic’s been a little...unpredictable. She hasn’t completely grasped it just yet.”

“I wish Regina would do a few more sessions with her.” Snow sighed.

“Let’s go, we don’t want to be late.” David said.

Inside the Sheriff’s station, Emma had dropped her head in the palms of her hands the minute her parents disappeared from her sight. She felt like crying, screaming, and smashing things all at once. It was hard to reconcile. They could have asked. Right? Was she being unreasonable? David did say he wanted to spend time with Neil...But how would her being there take away from it?

She wished she could understand the feelings in her head and her heart. She wished she could just shake them off as being nothing. She wanted to just conclude that she was being irrational, but even if she pretended to do so, she couldn’t shake that little voice in the back of her head that said she wasn’t. The voice that told her her worst fears were coming true.

She figured she’d calm down if she just focused on what she needed to do, so she popped her earphones into her ears, played some music, and tried to focus on work. She got about half an hour in when her music stopped and her phone started vibrating. It was her dad. She hit the answer button.

“Hey dad.” she said while looking at the papers in front of her. There was no response, though she heard voices. “Dad?”

Still nothing, it sounded like two people were having a conversation...that became all too clear to her a second later…

Across town, David and Snow sat at a table at Tiana’s cafe outside. Snow had a frown on her face the whole car trip there and ever since they left the station. David had finally put his phone in his back pocket. Hook had been texting him about the breakup, and David has to take the firm stance that no, he wasn’t going to try and convince his daughter to take him back.

“I’m worried about Emma, David.” Snow sighed when he gave his wife his full attention. 

“I think she’ll be fine.” David said.

“Fine?!” Snow scoffed. “Did you not see how out of control she was? If you hadn’t pulled me out of there she might have blown the whole place sky high!”

“Okay, let’s not go overboard, this is Emma we’re talking about.” David tried to reason with his wife.

“I’m not kidding, David, we know how strong her magic can be, and she’s...well…”

“What?”

“She’s not exactly disciplined.” Snow said. “She can be unreasonable, she lets her emotions cloud her judgement all the time. God knows why she broke up with Hook, he probably said the wrong thing and she lost it!”

“Snow, calm down.” David tried gently. 

“We have to do something before she hurts someone.” Snow said.

“I know...we’ll talk to her, it’ll be okay.” David said.

“No.” Snow shook her head. “I don’t think talking to her will help. It’ll just upset her more and she’ll set fire to something. I think we need to talk to Regina.”

“What’s she gonna do?” David asked.

“Help her? or...I don’t know...give us that cuff that restrains magic or something!” Snow said.

“Woah okay, stop.” David held his hands up. “You’re being irrational, we’re not going to  _ cuff  _ our daughter.” 

“We’re at the point where we’re going to start arguing about it ourselves. This wouldn’t happen if she took her magic seriously.” Snow crossed her arms and sighed. “Maybe...I don’t know.”

“What, Snow?” David asked.

“Maybe we should at least...ask her to move out?”

“Are you serious?” David gawked at her.

“Well the apartment is small as is, David, and Neil is going to need his own room. Henry spends nights with her, don’t get me wrong, I love having our daughter and our grandson around...but we have to think of our baby now too.” Snow said. “Maybe we can find her a place close by?”

“We’d have to have a conversation with her about it.” David said. “And maybe now’s not the best time.”

“Maybe we should do it outdoors, less lightbulbs.” Snow sighed.

“Listen. Let’s just forget about all that right now and...have a nice meal together, okay?” David said. Suddenly he heard a sound that seemed to come from his phone. He pulled it out in time to see the hang up screen, and Emma’s name on the screen.

“Oh…” he said, a concerned look on his face.

“What is it?” 

“Uhhh…” He made sure to lock his phone this time and shoved it back in his pocket. “Nothing, just another text.”

He hoped to any god that would listen that his fears weren’t true. 

But across town at the Sheriff’s station, Emma’s phone lay on the floor in one of the holding cells, smashed to pieces and fried as though a bolt of lightning had struck it. Emma sat with her head on her arms, tears staining the paperwork beneath her. And the lightbulbs of the office had all been blown out.


	2. Chapter 2

The bell of the shop door rang as the old, weary hinges creaked. This place always gave Robin an uneasy feeling, but it also possibly had what he had the sudden urge to buy. So he pushed past his hesitations and stepped up to the counter at the back of the room.

“Ah, look who’s come to visit.” Rumple smiled at him. “Come to say hello? Or did you spot something worth stealing?”

Robin resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

“I’m here...to buy something.” he said, giving the older man a polite smile.

“Well, that’s a little disappointing to hear from a thief.” Rumple said. Robin cleared his throat.

“It’s different here.” He said. “And...I’m a new man. I have to be...For Regina.”

“Ah, of course.” Rumple chuckled. “Love  _ blossoms  _ in the air, it seems.”

Robin raised a brow at him and Rumple waved him off.

“So, what are you after?”

“It’s a gift for her.” Robin said. 

“Fresh out of apples, I’m afraid.” Rumple chuckled again, getting an unamused frown from the younger man. “Oh I’m just teasing. So, what’ll it be then? Jewelry?”

“If you have any that isn’t cursed.” Robin shrugged.

“Hah.” Rumple pointed at him. “Look at that, you’ve picked up a sense of humor in a matter of seconds.”

Robin nodded. “I really do need to get this settled, Rumple.”

“Of course.” Rumple nodded, lifting a hand to his chin and tapping his fingers against it dramatically. “Now...Jewelry...jewelry…”

“Maybe a necklace, or some nice earrings…” Robin brainstormed with a shrug, looking at the older man expectantly. Rumple shook his head.

“Nope...No I’m afraid I’m fresh out of those...Ah! But I do have…” he reached into a drawer and pulled out a red velvet box, turning it so the opening was facing Robin, and lifted the lid open to reveal a beautiful gold ring with a large diamond on it. “...This ring.”

Robin’s jaw went slack as he stared at it and he started stammering, his face turning as red as the box which held the ring. “I...uhm...I…” 

He cleared his throat to cease his pathetic stammering. “I don’t think I’m quite ready for that, just yet.”

“Of course, I understand.” Rumple nodded emphatically, closing the lid of the box slowly. “After all, you’ll want to be sure about her before you commit yourself like that.”

“Yes.” Robin nodded, then frowned. “Wait...what do you mean sure  _ about her _ ? I love Regina.”

“Yes, of course you do!” Rumple said. 

“And...she loves me.” Robin said.

“Well...Who are we to speak for her, eh?” Rumple asked.

“I mean...it’s not that I don’t want to marry her it’s just...not the right time.” Robin said.

“Oh I understand completely.” Rumple nodded. “You’re still new. She’s still getting to know you and you’ve still to  _ really  _ get to know her.” 

“I have a feeling you’re trying to say something, Rumplestiltskin.” Robin said.

“Well...yes.” Rumple nodded.

“Well out with it then?” Robin said. Rumple sighed.

“Robin...take it from a man who has made... _ many  _ mistakes.” he said, placing a hand on his own chest, regret plastered on his face. “When it comes to people who’ve had a lot of darkness in their past, you’ll need to be certain they _ actually  _ changed their ways before you take any sort of step with them.” 

“Regina’s changed.” Robin said. “You know that as well as I do.”

“Of course.” Rumple nodded. “But so had I...and yet...I slipped. I’ll admit that much.”

“Regina isn’t like you.” Robin said, gritting his teeth.

“Oh no, that’s true.” Rumple nodded. “No...Regina is different...much different.”

“Exactly.”

“After all, I became the dark one to save my son from fighting in a war against monsters...she turned to darkness because she swore vengeance against  _ a child. _ ” Rumple sighed.

“What do you mean?” Robin asked again.

“Surely you know of Regina’s past. How she became the Evil Queen?” Rumple asked.

“Of course I do.” 

“Then you’ll know as well as I do that Snow White...Well...She was only ten years old. And after all, what can one expect from a child at that age?” Rumple shrugged. “Besides, Snow White was never really the sharpest tool in the shed, so you can just imagine what she was like as a ten year old. And yet, strangely enough, Regina aimed her anger at her...not her mother who did the actual murdering of her lover.”

“Regina’s grappled with the actions of her past for years.” Robin said. “That’s all in the past.”

“Yes. It is.” Rumple nodded. “...Until something  _ else  _ comes up and her old habits are triggered. We know how quick she is to use magic. And she’s only gotten stronger at using it. I should know, I used to be her teacher.”

“Regina would never…” Robin shook his head.

“No, probably not.” Rumple shrugged. “But life is full of tragedies. And Regina’s not the best with handling her emotions, as history can tell you.”

Robin’s shoulders sank. “You really think...if something were to happen?”

“Something  _ will  _ happen, Robin. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow. But really, doesn’t something  _ always  _ happen in Storybrooke?” Rumple said. “It’s only a matter of time. Henry will get sick, or hurt - of course I pray he doesn’t, he is my grandson after all. But...Regina is fragile. She seems strong and she is,  _ for now. _ But mark my words, one slip up, and she’ll be back to tearing out hearts and crushing them to dust.”

Robin stared down at the counter, his brow furrowed and his lips turned into a frown. “There’s nothing I can do, is there?”

“To stop it, you mean?” Rumple asked.

“Yes.” Robin sighed.

“You came here to get a gift for Regina. I think I might have _ exactly  _ what you’re looking for.” Rumple said. He reached down to a shelf behind the counter and pulled out a small vial of red liquid.

“What’s that?” Robin looked up at him nervously.

“That, my friend, is the reason I’m in such good spirits.” Rumple smiled at him kindly. “You see, Robin. I finally figured it out.”

“What?” Robin asked.

“How to remove my dark side.” Rumple said. Robin stared at him in shock for a minute.

“That’s impossible.” Robin said.

“It’s not.” Rumple shook his head. “I managed to do it, Robin...I’m free. And let me tell you, my friend, does it feel  _ good. _ ”

“Surely you’re still weighed down by the guilt of your actions.” Robin said.

“Oh yes.” Rumple nodded. “Sometimes even more so, when I really think about it. But then I realize, that’s the past. And the part of me that committed those actions? He’s dead and gone.”

“How? You can’t  _ kill  _ the dark one!” Robin stated.

“When he’s a whole human.” Rumple said. “I won’t disgust you with the gory details, Robin, but I assure you, it’s happened.”

“How do I know you’re not lying?” 

“I swear to you on my son’s grave.” Rumple said, the most serious look on his face Robin has ever seen. “And on Belle’s life.”

Robin gulped, looking back down at the vial. 

“It’s a gift, Robin, truly it is.” Rumple said, sliding the vial forward towards him. “Trust me, you’d be freeing her. She’d be able to live a full and happy life without any fear of her dark side taking over again...Don’t let her wait too long, Robin...I did...And I lost  _ everything. _ ”

Robin looked up at him for a moment, and then down at the vial.

“How much?” he asked.

“No more deals, Robin old boy, this one’s on me. A gift. After all I did to corrupt her, this is the least I can do.” Rumple said. 

Robin took a deep breath and then picked up the vial, placing it safely in his jacket pocket. 

“Nothing’s set in stone, Robin.” Rumple said with a slight shrug. “Just think about it.”

Robin nodded. “Thank you, Rumple...And I’m glad to see you’ve finally gotten rid of your darkness.”

Rumple smiled at him and gave him a nod, and the younger man turned around and left the shop. 

“...Gullible little thief.”

* * *

Emma managed to pick herself up and dust herself off in time to only be 15 minutes late to pick Henry up. When she pulled up to the school, he walked out and hopped into the passenger seat, throwing his backpack in the back, and then looked right at her.

“Is everything okay? I tried calling you.” he asked.

“Sorry kid, my phone got, uhm, busted.” She said.

“With magic?” He asked in shock.

“No. Uhm...Archie needed help finding Pongo again and I dropped it from a tree.” Emma lied.

“Why were you up in a tree?”

“To get a better view?” Emma said like it was obvious. “Regina should have enrolled you into the scouts troupe, you know nothing about surviving in the woods.”

“I know some stuff.” Henry complained.

“You hungry?” Emma asked.

“Starving!” Henry said. “Can we get burgers?”

“Sure, why not.” Emma shrugged.

“Hey...are you okay?” Henry asked

“Yeah, fine... why?” Emma asked back.

“You just seem...I dunno...down?” Henry tilted his head.

“I’m fine kid, don’t worry about me okay?” The blonde gave him a small smile that was meant to ease his worries.

“I try to, mom.” Henry shrugged. “But with everything that’s going on all the time…”

“I know, kid.” Emma nodded. “But there’s not much we can’t handle, you know that right?”

“Yeah.” Henry smiled at her. “I know.”

“Good, now come on. Let me feed you before Regina hears your stomach across town and goes full mama bear on me.”

* * *

Regina and Robin sat on the balcony of a restaurant that overlooked the harbour. The former queen had made a comment about how more people living in town meant there were a few more dining options around Storybrooke. Robin had chosen the one with the more romantic ambience. After all, a town full of people that believed in True Love deserved a place where the people could explore that...Even if the woman sitting three tables away from them looked anything  _ but  _ enchanted by her date. 

“So then I simply told Albert that if he wanted to build a ridiculously large mansion for himself, he would have to submit a request for a permit like everyone else.” Regina finished off her story.

“Mmmhm.” Robin mumbled, poking his steak with his fork.

“I’m sorry, I suppose my work related stories aren’t as entertaining as I think they are.” Regina frowned.

“Hmm? Oh no.” Robin looked up at her. “I’m sorry, darling, I was just...distracted.”

“Something on your mind?” Regina asked. Robin shrugged uncomfortably.

“Kind of.” he sighed. “But...don’t worry about it.”

He looked up at her and tried to smile, but Regina only responded with a raised brow that told Robin there was no way she was buying it. 

“It’s just something that someone said to me earlier, that’s all.” he said, hoping that would be enough.

“Well what did they say?” Regina asked. “It clearly had to be something of substance for you to be acting this way.”

“It...was.” Robin sighed again. “But I think I have to give myself time to mull it over before I share it with anyone.”

Regina stared at him for a moment, examining his facial expression, and then frowned.

“If that’s what you want.”

“It’s really nothing to trouble yourself with, Regina.” Robin tried again.

“Well you seem troubled by it.” Regina shrugged. “I figure what’s upsetting you is important enough to worry me...after all isn’t that how it should work in a relationship?”

“Well yes.” Robin nodded. “It’s just...I don’t know if what they said is even true.”

“Robin…” Regina wiped her lip with her napkin and placed it down on the table. “This person, whoever they are...did they say something about... _ me? _ ”

“I...uhm…” Robin sighed, and Regina crossed her arms, and he knew the jig was up. “Yes.”

“What did they say?” 

“Regina really it’s not-”

“If it’s bothering you so much then clearly they said something  _ against  _ me and I think I have a right to defend myself.” Regina said. Robin winced at the tone in her voice. 

“I just didn’t want to upset you.” he said.

“If you think what they said will upset me, then it might be with good reason, Robin.” she said.

“Please.” he sighed. “I don’t want us to fight. What this person said...it was more like... _ advice... _ and it came from someone who knows you at your darkest. He’s changed now...and he gave me a piece of advice that might be...I don’t know... _ good _ ...for you? For us?”

“Who was it?” Regina asked with a raised brow.

“You won’t believe what he said if I told you.” 

“Robin, I’m getting tired of this. Don’t you trust me?”

“Of course I do!” Robin said. Regina didn’t say anything, but the man could tell she was rebuilding her defenses. They sat in silence for a minute, the air between them growing thick with tension, and then Robin sighed.

“It was...Rumplestiltskin.” Robin said, almost afraid to look up at Regina to see her reaction. He thought she’d be furious, but when he did look up, she just seemed disappointed.

“You’d actually believe him?”

“He’s changed.”

“Oh Bullsh-” Regina stopped herself mid-cuss and shook her head. 

“Please...just listen to what I have to say, alright? And then you can decide, you can form your own opinions.” Robin said. Regina bit down on the snide remark that was about to escape her lips and sighed, gesturing towards Robin to go on.

“He said he found a potion that removes his dark side.” Robin began. “He took it, apparently the dark one without a human side isn’t very strong. I thought it impossible, I didn’t believe him at first. But he swore on his son’s grave, and on Belle’s life...Regina, even  _ he  _ knows better than to lie and then swear on his son’s grave...even Rumple with all his past mistakes and crimes loved his son more than anything else...I know you understand what I’m talking about.” 

Regina sighed and gave a slight nod, her stiff shoulders relaxing a little, but she remained silent.

“He gave me a vial of it, the potion he took…” Robin went on. “He said something that worried me, actually...He said that darkness is easily triggered under stress, or when something happens...when someone with a tendency for darkness gets scared or upset...when tragedy strikes...I...I don’t want that to happen to you.”

“What do you mean?” Regina asked.

“You’ve come so far, you’ve changed so much. You’re good now.” Robin said. “What if...what if something happens and you end up...I don’t know...relapsing?”

“You think I could easily turn dark again.” Regina scoffed. 

“I don’t think it.” Robin said. “I know you’ve changed and I do trust you, Regina...But sometimes things in life can get so out of control. And, I mean, look at all that’s happened in this town! What’s to say something tragic won’t happen next week? Or tomorrow? Hell, it could happen in the next five minutes knowing our history.”

“And you think that if I was to face another tragedy, I would go back to my old ways.” Regina said.

“I’m not expecting you to, but it is something I worry about.” Robin said. “The last time someone you loved died, it triggered your path to darkness.”

That wasn’t true, Regina thought. The last time someone she loved died, it was her mother. She frowned. Before that it was Graham, whom she killed. And before that…

She’d killed her own father. 

Her heart sank, and she felt like curling up into a ball and disappearing from the face of the earth. The guilt of her father’s death would always haunt her, especially now that she’d changed sides, that she was on the side of good. She sighed.

_ For now, at least, I am. _

She gulped. Staring at Robin in silence, he looked at her in worry, but she barely had the strength to say anything. The man in front of her was supposed to be her true love. She had Henry to think about. And, in some way, Emma as well. She had a family now, as strange as it might be. She had the townsfolk to look out for, even if not all of them trusted her.

But if she got rid of her darkness once and for all...they would have no reason to distrust her...right?

_ But it’s Rumple...he could be playing a trick.  _ She thought. But then something inside of her ticked. Even Rumple, with all his twisted, evil, sordid ways, would know better than to lie and then swear on his son’s grave. Even  _ he  _ wasn’t dark enough to do that. Dark side or not. 

Regina took a deep breath and sighed. Just because she had the potion in her possession didn’t mean she had to use it, right?

“You said you had the potion?” she asked.

“I do.”

“Is it here?” she asked again. Robin nodded, reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling out the small vial of red liquid. He put it on the table and slowly pushed it closer to her.

“What’s on your mind?” he asked. Regina didn’t answer, she just reached over, picked up the vial, and looked at it. 

“I’m not making any decisions just yet.” she said. “But…”

“You’ll think about it?” Robin asked. Regina gave him a single nod. Robin gave her a small smile. “I’m proud of you, Regina.”

She gave him a small smile back, but didn’t answer, the weight of her thoughts bearing down on her.

* * *

“Hah! Yes!” Henry cheered, punching a fist up into the air. Emma gave a soft chuckle and shook her head.

“Three out of three, way to go kid.” she said, sitting back against the couch. 

“I almost never win this game against you.” he said, grinning from ear to ear before he looked over and saw the tired, almost emotionless look on his mother’s face. “Ma?”

“Hmm?”

“You okay?” he furrowed his brow.

“I’m fine.” she waved him off.

“You still seem kinda off, mom...are you sick or something?” he asked.

“I said I’m fine, kid.” she said, getting up and stretching. “It’s late though, if your mom finds out I let you stay up this late…”

There was a knock at the door, drawing both Emma and Henry’s attention, and the boy looked at his mother with a questioning look. She could only shrug in response before going over to the door and opening it, to see Regina standing there.

“Oh...hey…”

“Hi.” Regina gave Emma a small smile. “Is Henry ready?”

“Ready?” Emma frowned. “I thought he was with me tonight.”

“I texted you earlier to let you know I needed to pick him up after dinner because his school stuff is at home.” Regina said.

“Oh…” Emma frowned, opening the door and letting Regina in. “My phone got busted. I have to go out of town and buy a new one.” 

“What happened to it?” Regina asked.

“She dropped it out of a tree.” Henry said, the bowl of potato chips they were sharing in his hands. 

“Why would you do that?” Regina asked Emma.

“It was an accident.” Emma shrugged.

“Wait…” Regina looked at the screen of the TV with a video game playing on it, and at Henry snacking and looked at Emma, her rage almost immediately rising. 

“I know, I’m sorry.” Emma sighed. “I figured letting him stay up a little late wouldn’t hurt. I wanted to spend some time with him. Besides if you had to take him back it’s a good thing he didn’t go to sleep.”

Regina looked at Emma and raised a brow at her. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine!” Emma sighed, crossing her arms. “Everyone keeps asking if I’m alright, it’s starting to bother me.”

“You just look…” Regina looked her over and then their eyes met and she got the message. “Never mind. I’m sorry, Henry we have to go. Your school things are at home.”

“Okay.” he sighed, his shoulders slumping. Regina turned to Emma, who didn’t look her in the eyes at first. 

“How about you take him tomorrow? It’s Friday, he can stay up later and you get more time with him.” she offered.

“But I have him this weekend.” Emma said. “Or...am I mixing up weekends? My calendar is on my phone.”

“Oh…” Regina rolled her eyes and turned to face Emma, taking her hand and making her hold her palm open. The former queen waved her own hand above Emma’s and summoned the blonde’s destroyed phone. “Good god...Emma... _ this  _ is what happens when you drop something out of a tree?”

“It was a very high tree?” Emma tried. Regina gave her a look that told her she didn’t buy it one bit, and the blonde pleaded with her eyes for the brunette to just let it go. 

“If you say so.” Regina shrugged, and then covered the phone with her palm. Emma could feel the surge of magic between them and when Regina removed her hand a minute later, her phone was good as new. 

“Hey!” Emma smiled. “Thanks! Wow you even got the old scratches out of the screen.”

“You’re welcome.” Regina said. “And lucky I don’t charge for repairs.”

“I’m just sayin’ this could be a really lucrative business.” Emma said. 

“No.” Regina said. “Now back to what we were talking about - yes, you have Henry for the weekend, but I figure giving you an extra day with him wouldn’t hurt.”

“Thanks.” Emma smiled at her softly. “I really appreciate that.”

“Yeah mom!” Henry came up behind her and hugged her tightly. “Thanks!”

“You’re welcome, but it’s late and we should really get going.” Regina said.

“Goodnight, Ma.” Henry said, going over and giving Emma a tight hug. The blonde sighed, feeling alright for two minutes as she held her son and kissed his head.

“Goodnight kid, I’ll see you tomorrow.” she said.

“Maybe I won’t kick your butt as bad this time, huh?” he teased.

“Yeah yeah, go on, you little stinker. I’ll get you tomorrow.” Emma said, ruffling his hair up as he pulled away. He picked up his backpack and looked at Regina, who gave one last look to Emma. “What?”

“Nothing...I just…” Regina shrugged. “It’s nothing. Goodnight Emma, I’m sorry again about the miscommunication.”

“It’s fine..thanks for...tomorrow...I guess.” Emma shrugged awkwardly.

“You’re welcome.” Regina gave her a warm smile that made Emma tingle all over. “Goodnight Emma.”

“Goodnight.” the blonde said as Regina and Henry walked out of the door. 

* * *

“I really am sorry I had to bring you back home like that.” Regina said.

“It’s okay.” Henry said. “But thanks for letting me stay with Emma tomorrow...I really am worried about her. You saw it too right?”

“Something does seem off about her, yes.” Regina said. 

“She told me Hook wouldn’t be hanging out with us anymore.” Henry said. “She broke up with him.”

“I think I caught on to that earlier today, actually.” Regina nodded. “But you shouldn’t worry about Emma’s love life, Henry, or mine, for that matter.”

“Do I have to worry about yours?” Henry raised a brow at her.

“Robin and I are fine and I just said, you shouldn’t be concerning yourself with that.” she said. 

“Okay...but I don’t think Emma’s issue is about Hook though.” He said. “She seemed off before today too. She just seems...I don’t know...sad? It’s weird. Things are good, I don’t know if she has anything to be sad about.”

“Henry…” Regina sighed, carefully chewing on her words. “Emma’s been through a lot in her life, honey...I think a lot of that still affects her to this day.”

“We should find a way to help her then.” Henry said.

“I don’t think we should get involved, son, it’s her business.” Regina said. “It’s important to respect a person’s boundaries.”

“I just think it’s the least we could do...after everything.” Henry shrugged.

“What do you mean, dear?” Regina asked.

“Well...I mean...she left everything behind to come to Storybrooke when I first brought her over. And she did it again when Zelena cast the second curse.” he said. “Sometimes I kind of feel guilty because I start thinking that maybe she misses her life in Boston, or maybe she wishes we could have stayed in New York after we broke Zelena’s curse.”

“Henry.” Regina sighed. “Stop. If anyone should feel guilty about messing up Emma’s life it’s…” 

The brunette stopped, the guilt she felt earlier during dinner coming back to haunt her, as well as Robin’s fears of her going dark again. 

“...It’s me.”

“But...you’re good now.” Henry said. Regina sighed.

“I try to be.” she gave him a soft smile. “But sometimes I worry. That dark part of myself is still with me, Henry...The Evil Queen is a part of me. I can’t get rid of her.”

“You can, you just have to be a good person.” Henry shrugged. “I don’t think it’s hard.”

“Sometimes the lines blur.” Regina said. “And sometimes I let my emotions get the better of me and it because a little bit more difficult to differentiate between myself and the evil queen.”

“I’m not worried about that. I trust you.” Henry said, leaning over and giving his mother a hug. “Even if she came back...we’d bring you back in no time.” 

“I’m flattered you have so much confidence in me.” Regina said, hugging him back and kissing his head. “But there’s also one problem with being good.”

“What’s that?” Henry screwed his face up in a strange expression.

“The guilt of your actions feels a lot worse when you’re good.” Regina shrugged. “It’s just something I have to live with every day. Some days are better than others.”

“Well…” Henry shrugged. “Maybe if you help Emma out, you’ll make up for it.”

“Maybe.” Regina said. “But again, Henry, none of this is anything you need to worry about. Emma and I are both adults, we’ll figure it out ourselves.”

“Okay.” Henry sighed. 

“Relax, I promise you everything will be okay.” Regina leaned over and kissed his forehead again. “Now come on, it’s bedtime, you have school in the morning.” 

Regina got off Henry’s bed, and the boy laid down, reaching over to turn off his bedside lamp, enveloping the room in darkness save for the streetlight slipping in through the curtains. Regina leaned down and made sure her son was properly covered up before kissing his head again.

“Goodnight Henry.”

“‘Night mom, I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Regina exited the room, shutting the door softly behind her after giving Henry one last glance. She sighed and walked over to her bedroom. She’d intended on getting ready for bed, but when she touched the side of her dress, she felt something move in her pocket, and remembered the vial Robin had given her. She pulled it out and stared at it for a moment, sitting on her bed as the thoughts of everything that had happened over the course of that evening came back to her. 

Robin’s worries and fears. The memories of all the people she’d erased from this world in a desperate attempt to win back some semblance of happiness. The pain she’d caused Emma…

_ The pain I’ve caused Emma.  _ she sighed. She’d never be able to deny how drawn she felt to the blonde. She’d never be able ignore the fact that she loved her.

But she’d never be able to forgive herself for everything she’s done to her. How could Regina ever hope to win Emma’s love after all she’s done? Besides the fact that there was Robin to think about.

Robin, who gave her hope of ever having true love again. Who was now so scared she’d lose her way again. 

If she really was good now, she thought, there’d be no harm in getting rid of her dark side. It wouldn’t really be anything special. Would it? It’d just be insurance. 

She’d never hurt anyone again, she’d never have to worry about the possibility that she  _ might  _ hurt anyone again. And Robin would be happy. 

She stood up, pulling the cork off the vial. She took a deep breath and let it out before she pressed the lip of the vial to her mouth and downed the liquid like a shot. After swallowing the concoction, she gagged. Potions never tasted good, did they?

She waited a minute, wondering how the potion would do it’s work…

And then suddenly doubled over in pain, her gut starting to hurt worse than anything she’d ever felt before. 

At first, she thought Rumple had tricked Robin and given him poison, but then the pain started spreading through her entire body, her head felt like it was splitting in two, and she felt an excruciating pull from the center of her spine, like it was being pulled out from her body. 

_ Something  _ was being pulled out of her body, that much she was certain of. But she didn’t have the strength to turn her head to look. It either lasted for eternity, or for a couple of minutes. Regina couldn’t tell...but eventually, the pain stopped, and she found the strength to stand up straight and look behind her.

The vial fell out of her hands, avoiding being shattered only thanks to the carpeted floor of her room.

Before her stood the Evil Queen. 

“You.” she sneered at her. “How. The.  _ Hell…” _

Her evil side laughed.

“You made a big mistake, Regina.” she shook her head. “Haven’t we learned by now? Never listen to Rumple...even if the message is being delivered by your gullible  _ oaf  _ of a boyfriend.”

Regina gritted her teeth, rage overtaking her. She didn’t say a word - she couldn’t. She merely reached over, embedding her hand into the queen’s chest, finding the familiar feeling of a beating heart in her palm, and then yanked it out. 

“Don’t be foolish.” The evil queen said.

“For the first time in my life, I can safely say that the only foolish thing I can do right now is deciding  _ not  _ to crush your heart.” Regina said. “I’m free of you. And now...everyone will be…”

“No-” the evil queen tried, but it was too late...Regina had crushed her heart into dust.

The evil queen froze in place before her, and then much like her heart, crumpled to dust before Regina’s eyes. What little remained of her blew right out the window along with the dust that was in Regina’s hand. 

The brunette sighed in relief. The Evil Queen was gone.

* * *

It was the dead of night, long after every  _ regular  _ citizen of Storybrooke had gone to sleep. But Rumplestiltskin was still in his shop, sitting in the back, the lights almost all turned off. 

He opened a wardrobe, smiling into it. 

“My plan is working.” he snickered. “She’ll be here soon. I can’t  _ ever  _ thank you enough for setting me free... _ Rumple. _ ”

In the wardrobe, the human version of Rumple sat, his arms and legs bound and his mouth gagged, sneering at his dark side, the dark one, devoid of any semblance of compassion. Rumple knew he was bad before, he admitted his mistakes. But now? He feared for the world. This version of the dark one wouldn’t stop until all hell broke loose...possibly literally.

The dark one closed the wardrobe, enveloping Rumple in darkness again, before he went back to what he was doing...waiting.

The door to the shop opened, indicated by the bell and the sound of the door shutting behind the person who entered. 

“Right on time.” The dark one said, walking out into the shop. “I knew you’d come, sooner or later.”

“I have to say, I wish I was a fly on the wall when you had that conversation with Robin Hood...whatever you said must have scared him.” The evil queen chuckled.

“He works fast, I’ll give him that.” Rumple chuckled.

“You don’t say.” the evil queen rolled her eyes.

“My old pupil.” Rumple said, giving her a flamboyant bow. “It’s nice to see you again.”

“And this time, without the dead weights holding us down.” The evil queen chuckled. “Though I have to wonder, what’s your game? There has to be a reason you tricked Robin into releasing me.”

“Of course there is.” Rumple announced. “You know me, the plot just gets thicker.” 

“I’m listening.” the queen raised a brow.

“I’m going to give us what we  _ both  _ want.” Rumple said.

“Which is?”

“ _ I  _ am going to enjoy watching the world dissolve into chaos!” he laughed. “And  _ you _ ? You will get the one thing you’ve wanted most in the world. Your  _ true  _ love...We both know who that is…”

The evil queen smirked.

“Emma Swan.”

  
  



	3. Chapter 3

Emma hadn’t even walked into the station on Friday morning, when her cell phone was ringing.

“Sheriff.” she stated when she picked up, balancing her coffee and her bear claw in one hand, her phone between her shoulder and her ear, while trying to unlock the door.

_ “Ms. Swan? It’s Rumple.”  _ the voice on the other end said. Emma rolled her eyes.

“What’s up?” she answered unenthusiastically.

_ “I need your help. When I came to the shop this morning I found my shop had been broken into!”  _ Rumple said.

“Please tell me you didn’t have a doll in stock called  _ Chucky. _ ” she sighed.

_ “...Are you making some kind of reference?”  _ Rumple asked.

“Nevermind. I’ll be there soon...don’t touch anything.” Emma said.

_ “Thank you, sheriff.”  _ the man said. Emma held back a scoff and gave up trying to unlock the door. She shoved the key back in her pocket, followed by her phone, cussed because she probably scratched the screen, and then walked back to her car.

By the time she arrived at the Pawn shop, she had chugged down half her coffee and wolfed down her bear claw. It was the only way she would manage to remain sane, she was sure of it.

She got out of the car and walked to the shop. Rumple was outside, and she immediately saw the broken glass panel in the door, which was ajar.

“Did they take anything?” Emma asked?

“I haven’t been inside yet, Sheriff.” Rumple said. “Was waiting for you for...preservation of evidence and so on.”

“Right.” Emma said. “Okay, I’ll just take some pictures of the door, and then we’ll head inside to see if anything else is damaged.”

Rumple nodded, and Emma went through the painstaking procedure of taking photos and writing notes and everything that’s required for a break in.

“I don’t suppose you have CCTV footage?” Emma asked.

“I don’t suppose magically conjuring one up would hold up in court?” Rumple smirked.

“No.” Emma deadpanned. “It wouldn’t.”

Rumple shrugged.

“You realize the likelihood of us finding out who did it without CCTV is minimal right?” Emma said. “I’d recommend installing one.”

“I’ll shop around.” Rumple said. “It was probably a bunch of kids anyway.”

“Probably. Could be a couple of lost boys.” Emma said, stepping over to go inside. “Come on, let’s see if anything got robbed.”

They walked into the shop, and Rumple set to work on searching his shelves and making sure everything was still in its place. A few things were knocked over and moved around, a few boxes open, as far as Emma could see. 

“Everything seems to be here…” Rumple said after half an hour of looking around.

“Did you check if any money got taken?” Emma asked.

“No need.” Rumple said, pointing to a painting behind his counter. “Blood magic. No way they could have gotten in there...Unless Robin Hood has been teaching Henry a thing or two.”

“Not. Cool.” Emma snapped at him. Rumple raised his hands in innocence.

“I’m sorry.” he said. “Didn’t mean to offend.”

“The door’s probably a bunch of kids playing ball or something and accidentally broke it. Besides, you could fix it with magic.” Emma said. “Do you want me to make the report?”

“Isn’t that the way it’s supposed to work?” Rumple asked.

“Since when do you care about the rules?” Emma said.

“Oh...dear me, yes I suppose you haven’t heard then…” Rumple scratched the back of his neck nervously.

“What?” Emma asked.

“Well, you see…” He smiled at her. “I made something of a breakthrough with a potion, Sheriff Swan...I managed to expel my dark side.”

“You did what now?” Emma looked at him like he was crazy.

“My dark side...the dark  _ one _ ...he’s gone. I’m good old Rumple again.” He shrugged. 

“How?” Emma asked.

“It’s a potion I found...years ago to be honest with you.” Rumple shrugged. “But it needed work. So I worked on it. And finally I perfected it. It’s been a few days, I feel like a new man.”

“You’re bluffing.” Emma said.

“I’m not, Emma, I swear.” Rumple put his hand over his heart.

“Why should I believe you?” Emma asked.

“Emma...I swear to you...I swear on Neil’s grave.” Rumple said hesitantly. Emma’s eyes went dark and she stepped into the man’s personal space, grabbing him by the lapels of his suit.

“If I find out you’re lying, no amount of magic will save you after what you just said.” Emma threatened. 

“If there’s anything that kept me human, Emma, it was my son.” Rumple said. “He’s part of the reason I did what I did. Removing the dark one, I mean. I thought the potion wouldn’t be strong enough. But the dark one without a human to corrupt is nothing but a husk.”

“That sounds gross.” Emma said, putting the man down. “Also if a potion like that existed why the hell didn’t you take it ages ago?”

“I really should have.” Rumple sighed. “I wanted to. But it was imperfect. And the consequences would be dire. So I stayed the way I was until I could make it work the way it should...And then sometimes, I slipped.”

Emma gritted her teeth. “You would have saved the world a lot of trouble if you’d just gotten on with it.”

“I know.” Rumple sighed sadly. “I can’t ever apologize to you enough. Or to Regina...Though I tried. I tried to make it up to her for all the ways I corrupted her.”

“How is that even possible? You took advantage of the worst moment in her life and turned her evil.” Emma said.

“I know.” Rumple nodded. “I just hope now that her darkness is gone she can live peacefully.” 

“What?!” Emma exclaimed.

“Well I gave Regina some of the potion.” Rumple said. “I know I can never completely undo the damage the dark one created, but if I can bring her some inner peace, it’s worth the try isn’t it?”

“Yeah...I guess you’re right.” Emma shrugged. “Hey...would...would a potion like that remove your magic?”

“Well it did for me, because I didn’t have magic before I became the dark one.” Rumple explained. “But if you had magic before, then it sticks. It’s just powered by light magic instead of dark magic.”

“Oh.” Emma’s shoulders slumped. 

“Something on your mind, Emma?” Rumple asked gently.

“Huh? Uh. No.” Emma shook her head.

“How’s your magic lessons with Regina going?” Rumple asked. Emma frowned.

“They’re...not?” she chuckled nervously. “She’s been...busy.”

“Oh...well...yes of course, I suppose what with Robin and all…”

“Yeah.” Emma sighed. 

“I would teach you, but with the dark one gone, I don’t have magic.” Rumple shrugged. “And the only way I even remember to use magic is for evil. Not the best way to learn. Not that  _ you  _ would use it for evil of course...Well...You probably  _ can’t. _ ” 

“What do you mean?” Emma asked.

“Hmm? Oh nothing, don’t mind me.” Rumple said. “I just remembered is all.”

“Remembered what?” Emma raised a brow at him.

“Well...you know...You don’t  _ have  _ a dark side…” Rumple said. Emma scoffed.

“You forget, I used to be a thief.” she chuckled.

“Well...not every thief is a bad guy.” Rumple said. “Look at Robin Hood.”

“True.” Emma furrowed her brow. “Well...what do you mean I don’t have a dark side? Everyone has the potential for good and the potential for evil.” 

“ _ Yes... _ Unless someone interferes with that.” Rumple said.

“Dude. You’re starting to sound weirder and weirder by the second.” Emma rolled her eyes. 

“Maybe it’s better to speak with your parents about it.” Rumple said. Emma groaned.

“Gold, stop tip-toeing and start freaking talking?” she all but demanded of the older man. Rumplestiltskin sighed like he was going to regret it.

“If you insist.” He said with a sigh. “But I have to warn you, you might not like what I’m about to tell you.”

“As long as I’m not related to like, Mickey Mouse or some shit, I think I’ll be fine.” Emma rolled her eyes.

“No, not as far as I know anyway.” Rumple said, looking pensive. “Are you sure you want to know? I have to say it’s...life changing.”

“It can’t get much worse than it already is.” Emma sighed. “Lay it on me.”

“Well, you see…” Rumple cleared his throat. “There’s a reason Maleficient had quite the bone to pick with your parents.”

Emma sighed. “What did they do?”

“Maleficient had a daughter.” Rumple said. “Obviously, because she’s a dragon, the baby was laid as an egg. In the meantime, your mother was pregnant with you. You parents were given reasons to uhm... _ doubt  _ what kind of child you would be. Good…”

“...Or Evil.” Emma’s froze. “You’re shitting me.”

“I’m afraid I’m not.” Rumple said. “I’m very sorry. But it’s true. They were scared you’d grow to be dark. And with everything they were facing with Regina, they couldn’t afford that. So...Desperate times called for  _ very  _ desperate measures.”

“What do you mean, what did they do?!” Emma asked.

“They found Maleficient’s egg and they...well let’s say it was a  _ trade. _ ” Rumple shrugged. “They gave your potential for darkness to the unborn child, and took their potential for good.”

“But...but that means they cursed that child to be evil.” Emma said. “Right?”

Rumple nodded solemnly. “Yes. It’s true. After the exchange was done, from what I know, they accidentally opened some kind of portal and the egg fell through to another realm.”

“Oh god...does that mean the kid died?!” Emma asked. Rumple shook his head.

“Oh no, Emma, the child is still very much alive. You met her, in fact. You brought her here.” he said. Emma’s eyes grew wide.

“ _ Lily? _ ”

“Yes. Your old childhood friend, from what I gather?” Rumple sighed. “I’m very sorry, Emma. They meant well, I’m sure. Even if they were misguided.” 

Emma’s face grew dour, and the lights in the shop started flickering as her emotions started getting the better of her.

“Emma? Are you alright?” Rumple asked gently.

“I’m fine.” the blonde growled. “I have to go.”

Before the older man could say anything, Emma turned on her heel and walked out the door, the force of her magic forcing it to open and slam shut behind her. 

Emma didn’t remember how she arrived in front of her parents’ apartment, and she barely recalled climbing up the stairs, all she knew was that she was suddenly banging on the door forcefully. She heard rushed footsteps before the door swung open with a panicked looking Snow.

“Oh. Emma!” she sighed in relief. “You scared me, knocking like that! You nearly woke up Neil.”

“Yeah, wouldn’t want to disturb your precious angel.” Emma said bitterly. “Where’s dad, we need to talk.”

“What’s going on?” David came down the stairs upon hearing her asking for him.

“What’s wrong is that I just got told something  _ very  _ fucking interesting by  _ Rumplestiltskin  _ of all people.” Emma said. 

“Oh Emma it’s no use getting upset over the Dark one-” Snow began.

“Shut up. I’m going to do the talking and you’re going to answer my questions because I am fucking  _ done.”  _ Emma growled. Snow’s eyes went wide and she opened her mouth to speak, but the lights above them starting flickering and her and David could both feel the magic crackling in the air coming from Emma. So Snow nodded, hoping to appease her daughter. 

“Is it true that before I was born, you took away my potential for darkness and put it into another child, because you had some kind of vision that I would grow up to be dark?” Emma asked. 

“Well...we-” Snow tried.

“ _ Is. It. True?!”  _ Emma demanded.

“Y-yes.” Snow squeaked.

“Was that child Maleficient’s child?” Emma asked.

“Emma we-”

“ _ Answer me!”  _ Emma demanded.

“Yes. It was. But Emma I’m sure that child died. It fell through a portal and it was an  _ egg-”  _ Snow made an attempt at a defense. A lightbulb in the kitchen popped and made Snow jump.

“That  _ child  _ was the only friend I ever had growing up!” Emma roared. “We met, we bonded. I loved her! The only time I didn’t was when she tried to get me to hang out with her and my foster family decided if I wanted to hang out with a delinquent, that I wasn’t a good fit for them! And now I realize that the only reason that ever happened was because once again  _ you two  _ meddled with my life!” 

“We were trying to save you-”

“ _ No.  _ You were trying to save yourselves because you have no damn faith in me! You don’t believe I could have chosen the right path if I had the choice. Just like you don’t believe I can control my magic now. And for the record, I know you want to ask me to move out of your apartment so you can get on with your lives with your perfect, precious little replacement! I’m  _ sorry  _ that in the midst of a curse  _ you both  _ decided to shove me into a magical wardrobe and that you were duped by a carpenter and a fairy so neither of you would come with me. I’m sorry I grew up to be an emotional mess because I was unloved, unwanted, and  _ abused  _ for half of my fucking life!” Emma raged and ranted. “Did you ever even stop to think about that? You never asked about my life. You never fucking cared! You expected me to be this perfect, prissy little princess irrelevant of what I’ve had to go through to get to where I am today! You made decisions for me and for my life from before you were even born and every single one of those decisions has blown up in my fucking face. I’m done! I’m done with both of you! I’m glad I never fucking grew up with you as my parents, because now I get to walk away from you! You want me out so bad? Congratulations, I’m out. Of your lives. For good!”

A burst of magic left the blonde’s body and blew out all the lightbulbs and the windows. The sound of Neil crying came from upstairs, and Emma stormed out of the house before either of her parents could even say anything. 

“We have to go after her before she hurts someone.” Snow said looking up at David. 

“I think that’ll only make it worse.” David said.

“Well someone has to do something!” Snow said.

“Maybe...we should call Regina?” David suggested. Snow pulled her phone out of her pocket without even responding to him, sending Regina a text with a brief description of what happened and a plea for help. She received an instant reply and sighed in relief.

“Regina will take care of it.” she said.

If only she knew it wasn’t Regina who’d answered the text.

* * *

Emma sat in the woods, shivering cold. It had started to rain and she ended up somewhere deep in the forest within Storybrooke’s boundaries, at the top of a cliff. She didn’t know how long she’d been sitting out on the knocked over tree trunk, but she knew her shirt was soaking wet and her leather jacket wasn’t helping to keep the cold out. But the silence, the silence was worth it all. She felt like she could finally breathe. And the rain hid the tears running down her cheeks. 

She heard a branch snap, and sighed.

“Snow, if that’s you, I don’t want to hear it.” she said towards the source of the sound. She heard steps wading through the leaves on the ground and she sighed. “I said leave me alone.”

A couple of seconds of silence, and then footsteps coming closer. Emma stood up suddenly and rounded onto the source of the sound.

“I  _ said-” _

“I know, I know.” The Evil queen smirked at her. Emma was taken aback, her jaw going slack at seeing the dark version of Regina in full regal attire, a travelling outfit the likes of which she’d only seen her in in pages of the storybook. 

“You.” Emma said in shock. “So Regina did it...She took that potion.”

“ _ Finally _ .” The brunette in front of her rolled her eyes. “I thought she’d never let me out.”

“What are you doing here?” Emma asked, her defences building up immediately.

“ooh, someone’s a bit touchy.” the queen pouted at her. “Can’t a lady just have a nice stroll through the woods? Or do I need to be having an emotional breakdown?”

“You followed me.” Emma stated.

“I  _ did. _ I was so worried.” the evil queen said.

“Bullshit.” Emma spat. The queen shrugged.

“I mean sure, but if I hadn’t read Regina’s text before she even saw it and deleted it,  _ she  _ would be here instead. And she’d try to convince you to go back home...You don’t want to do that, do you?” she asked.

“No.” Emma crossed her arms petulantly.

“Then…” The queen shrugged. “We’ll just sit here, in the rain, feeling angsty.” 

“I don’t need your help for that, thanks.” Emma turned around and sat back down on the tree trunk. 

“Well... _ no. _ ” the evil queen said, stepping closer and sitting on the trunk beside Emma. “But...Maybe I can do something that  _ will  _ help you?”

Emma was about to open her mouth and ask how the hell she thought she could do that, but before she could even speak a word of her question, the queen waved her hand, conjuring a tall umbrella that protected them from the rain. She then waved a hand over Emma, changing her clothes out to a warm woolen sweater and a beanie on her head, tucked down perfectly to cover her ears. Emma noticed a moment later that she’d also been dried off, where a minute ago she was soaking wet. With a snap of her fingers, the queen then conjured a mug of hot cocoa, topped with whipped cream and cinnamon, the steam coming out of the top of the drink. She handed it over to Emma with a smile.

“How do I know you didn’t poison that?” Emma asked. The Evil queen rolled her eyes and took a sip from the drink herself, staining her upper lip with whipped cream and then tilting her head as if she were considering something.

“That’s not half bad.” she said, passing the drink over to Emma again. “Trust me now?”

“...No.” Emma said as she took the mug. “But I do like my hot cocoa.”

“I know.” the queen nodded and smiled at her gently.

“Why are you being nice to me?” Emma asked, sipping her cocoa suspiciously. 

“Because you and I have suffered the same injustice, Emma.” the evil queen said, getting a raised eyebrow from the blonde. “We’ve both been cast aside.”

“Hah.” Emma said before choking on her cocoa and coughing. The queen patted her back and she calmed down a moment later. “ _ You  _ were cast aside because you’re evil.  _ I  _ was cast aside because my parents are idiots.”

“Well...That’s something we  _ can  _ agree on.” the evil queen said. “I suppose the only difference between you and me is that well...Regina’s dark side was removed voluntarily. Well... _ she  _ volunteered.”

“You mean you wouldn’t have?” Emma raised a brow at her again.

“Don’t get me wrong, some things are better without her chastising me. But Regina and I are two halves of the same whole, Emma, I’m as lost without her as she is without me.” The queen said.

“What makes you think she’s lost without you?” Emma scoffed.

“Well...look at what’s happening to you.” the queen said. Emma shot a death glare her way.

“What the hell do you mean by that?” she demanded.

“Emma life is about balance. You can’t have light without dark and you can’t have dark without light. Darkness is the  _ absence  _ of light. If light never existed it wouldn’t be darkness, it’d just be chaos. Things aren’t black and white. Your parents tried to remove your potential for darkness, they failed. You proved that when you killed Cruella.” The queen said.

“That was an accident!” Emma defended. The queen shook her head calmly. 

“No. It was an act of defence. You wanted to protect Henry at all cost. And you did. She may not have said it, but Regina was proud of you at that moment.” The queen stated, and then gave the blonde a soft smile. “And so was I.”

“So every person that kills someone in self defence is dark?” Emma asked. The queen shook her head.

“Of course not! Otherwise your parents would be no better than me. Or did they never tell you that they killed hundreds of my guards? Men who were just trying to provide for their families.” The queen raised a brow. Emma frowned.

“This cocoa tasted better without the morality debate.” she said.

“I’m sorry.” the evil queen said sympathetically. “How about we simply stop talking about it? You can have your cocoa in peace.”

“Why are you being nice to me?” Emma asked. “I thought you hated me.”

The queen looked down for a moment, shook her head, and then looked back up at Emma with the most sincere look. For a moment, Emma forgot who she was talking to. 

“Emma...my dear, sweet, Emma…” the queen sighed. “There’s only really one thing that Regina and I can agree on.”

“What’s that?”

“Neither of us deserve you.” the queen said. All this time, her hand had remained on her back, and now that the brunette moved it away...Emma suddenly felt cold all over again.

“What are you talking about?” she asked, her voice just above a whisper as her emotions started wreaking havoc in her head.  _ Keep your head on, Swan.  _ the blonde thought to herself.  _ She looks like Regina, she talks like Regina, she’s a part of Regina. She’s being really nice and getting really close to you. But don’t freakin’ fall for it.  _

“Of course, Regina never even so much as gave you the time of day.” the queen frowned. “But the truth is that both her and I harbour a secret love for you, Emma. I hesitate to say that...well…”

The woman in front of her blushed and Emma all but lost it.

“It kind of feels like...we’re  _ in  _ love with you…” 

  
  



	4. Chapter 4

_ “It kind of feels like...we’re in love with you…” _

Emma’s eyes went wide and she suddenly felt dizzy for a moment. 

“You what?” she asked. The queen sighed and nodded, looking down at the grass and the fallen leaves around her feet.

“It’s true.” she said. “It’s true for Regina as well, but she’s so...God…Her head has been shoved up her ass for so long she’s too scared to pull it out. She’s been in love with you since you started protecting her. She’s wanted to jump your bones since before the curse broke, and the more you two worked together to protect the town and Henry and each other, she’s just been falling deeper and deeper...So have I. The only difference is that I’m not afraid to say it and then face the consequences. She is. She thinks she has some kind of sick obligation to Robin Hood, and she’s too ashamed of how our past has affected your life. Which...I can understand...If there’s one thing that Regina and I agree on, it’s that sheer, undeniable fact that no matter how much we both want and love you we just...don’t deserve you.”

Emma was shocked, stuck staring at the evil queen in some kind of mix of awe, joy...and painful disappointment. 

“So even when the woman I want more than anything wants me back...I don’t fucking get it.” Emma shook her head, sighing and dropping her head into her hands.

“What was that?” The evil queen asked.

“You heard me…” Emma mumbled before pulling her head back up. “I’ve wanted you for ages. I can’t tell if I wanted you from before the curse broke. Don’t get me wrong - you’re hot, curse or no curse, and I acknowledged that from the very first moment I laid eyes on you. But I think the emotional feelings started when we were in Neverland. Only...I’d just gotten my parents back, and we were focused on finding Henry...and then my parents started pushing me towards Hook and I yearned for their approval like a fucking  _ dumbass  _ so I went along with it. And then he started having actual feelings for me so I figured ‘hey at least he likes me and wants me for who I am’ but then I realized I wasn’t being  _ who I am  _ I was being who  _ they  _ wanted me to be and it sucked and I was getting depressed. So I broke up with him. I don’t think I can live like this anymore.” 

“What do you mean?” The queen asked, her brow furrowed and worry painted on her face.

“I don’t know myself yet. All I know is that something has to change for me to be able to survive.” Emma sighed. “I just don’t know what, yet.”

The queen crept closer towards Emma as the blonde was distracted, and placed a gentle hand on her back. 

“You have to do what makes you happy.” the brunette said. “Even at the risk of upsetting your parents. Besides, what have they done to protect your happiness and give you what you want? They selfishly parade their perfect baby boy around town, as if you never existed.”

Emma nodded. “I know I’m too old for them to actually raise anymore. But god dammit, it wasn’t me who asked to be put in that wardrobe! Fuck, man, it wasn’t even you! I tried so hard and it still wasn’t enough for them!”

“I know, I know…” the queen nodded, moving her hand up and down slowly against Emma’s back to comfort the blonde. 

“I feel so out of control…” Emma sighed. 

“Shh…” the queen hushed. “You’re not out of control, Emma, they’ve taken it from you, and they expect you to accept it the way it is. You said something has to change, I think I know what it is. I think you need to start  _ taking  _ what you want from life, stop seeking others’ approval or asking permission.”

Emma looked at her for a moment, their eyes meeting and a small smile coming up on the queen’s face. 

“See something you want?” The queen asked. Emma nodded hesitantly. “Take it.”

Emma leaned forward cautiously, wondering if the queen would back away, but she didn’t. Instead Regina’s Dopplegänger leaned forward towards Emma, an arm wrapping itself around the blonde’s waist as Emma’s hands cupped her cheeks and pulled her closer, their lips meeting in a hot, passionate exchange. Emma sighed into the queen’s touch, her arms wrapping themselves around the woman’s neck. She tried to stay focused, tried to savour every tingling sensation that came from the brunette of her dreams. She felt a gentle, poking tongue slip between her lips and responded in kind, her breath leaving her lungs all too suddenly. She didn’t want to, but she had to pull away and gather some oxygen. When she finally collected the courage to look up at the brunette, she found her breathless, her cheeks red and her hair a little dishevelled. 

“That was...uhm…” Emma tried. the queen nodded, smiling shyly at the blonde. 

“Everything I’ve ever wanted and more.” she said, her eyes hesitating to meet Emma’s for a moment. When she finally did look up at her properly, Emma smiled at her.

“Yeah…” The blonde said. “It was the same for me.”

“I know I’m not Regina, Emma…” the queen sighed. “But...I felt the same things she did.”

“You’re a part of her, whether she chooses to accept it or not. When I fell in love with Regina I fell in love with all of her, my heart didn’t differentiate between you and her. I just saw you...both of you. As one whole.” Emma shook her head. “This is a weird conversation to be having.”

“That’s true.” the queen smiled at her and gently took her hand. “How about we quit talking and do something  _ a lot  _ more fun?”

Emma couldn’t help the smile that appeared on her face as she nervously asked, “What, here?”

“No silly.” the queen rolled her eyes. “Unless you get off on traumatising some poor unsuspecting hiker. I know a place closeby.”

Emma simply turned her hand over beneath the queen’s, lacing their fingers together. And with a snap of her fingers, the queen transported them away from their spot in the woods, and over to a cabin not too far away. Emma landed in the middle of a room, facing a wooden door. but the queen wasn’t next to her like she had been.

“Where’d you go?” Emma asked.

“Behind you.” the brunette’s sultry voice hit her ears and she turned on her heel…

And her jaw hit the floor. The queen was laid out in the middle of a large, luxurious looking bed...stripped down to a corset and a scrap of lace one could perhaps call underwear.

“Oh fuck…” fell out of Emma’s mouth.

“Please do.” the queen winked at her. In a moment, Emma was jumping on to the bed and crawling over so she was hovering just above the brunette, their lips locking once they were levelled and Emma’s hands happily exploring the older woman’s body. The queen could feel the saviour trembling in excitement, and perhaps a hint of anxiety.

“Em-ma.” she whispered softly against the blonde’s lips.

“Hmm?” Emma whimpered, her eyes screwed shut.

“What is it, dear?” the queen asked.

“Nervous…” Emma sighed. “Kinda overwhelmed...Uhm...I can feel the magic about to go nuts.”

“Okay…” the queen said calmly, a gentle hand cupping Emma’s cheek. “Breathe for me, dear okay? Deep, slow breaths.”

Emma nodded, following the queen’s guidance as she clasped her hands together in desperation to get them to stop shaking. 

“I feel like I’m gonna lose control again.” Emma said. “I’m so-”

“Hush.” the queen placed a finger over Emma’s lips. “No need for that…”

She gently guided Emma to lay down on the bed on her back, straddling her and taking both the blonde’s hands in her own, lacing their fingers together and breathing in deeply. 

“Your magic is very powerful, Emma, you should be proud.” the queen smiled. “But it can be overwhelming, especially when your emotions start wreaking havoc in your mind.”

She leaned down, pressing a soft kiss on Emma’s forehead, right at the spot were the wrinkles gathered due to how hard the blonde was furrowing her brow. 

“Regina and I completely abandoned you with your training.” the queen sighed. “But not anymore, I’ll show you everything you need to know. Starting tomorrow. I promise Emma, I’ll do everything in my power to give you control.” 

The queen leaned down again, pressing a soft kiss to Emma’s lips which the blonde returned in kind. 

“You will?” Emma asked breathily.

“Yes.” the queen nodded. “I promise you, Emma, your days of abandonment are over.” 

As hard as she tried to fight them, hot tears started dripping from Emma’s eyes. The queen released the blonde’s hands to wipe them away and then dismounted the blonde, laying on her side beside her instead.

“Come here…” she said gently, snaking her arm under Emma’s neck and successfully wrapping it around her shoulders enough to pull her closer. Emma turned on her side instinctively and the queen pulled her into her chest, holding her tight.

“I’m sorry…” Emma whispered again.

“If you try to apologize one more time I’m removing your tongue...temporarily...I might need it later.” 

Despite herself, Emma laughed into the queen’s chest. 

“This wasn’t what we had planned.” Emma shrugged. 

“That’s okay. Plans change. We have time, Emma, we have all the time in the world. And our plans can go ahead later if you feel up to it.” the queen pressed a gentle kiss to the top of the blonde’s head.

“Okay…” Emma whispered, burying her face further into the queen’s chest and sighing, letting her body relax for what felt like the first time in years. The queen lay with her in silence, running gentle fingers through her hair and small, comforting circles on her back. And for once in her life, Emma felt like she belonged.

* * *

Emma had fallen asleep, something she didn’t realise had happened until she was slowly stirring back to the waking world. The problem was that when she started coming to her senses, she felt that the soft comfy thing underneath her was not the supple bosom of the evil queen, instead, it was merely a pillow. 

She hadn’t opened her eyes yet and she had already begun to get nervous. What if that whole thing with the evil queen was a dream? What if she’d just fallen asleep in the woods and someone found her and brought her home? She knew eventually she would need to open her eyes, but she was afraid to let go of the hope that she was still in the cabin with the queen.

Suddenly, a delicious scent hit her nose and her brow furrowed, she’d never smelled anything like it before. It was definitely food, that much she could tell…

And so could her stomach, because it started growling. 

“Ah, fuck it.” Emma grumbled as she opened her eyes. She sighed in relief, she was still in the cabin. Which meant that the queen was likely still here as well, and the decadent smell was coming from the kitchen. 

She followed the scent, the cabin being unfamiliar to her, and managed to stumble upon the kitchen, seeing the queen standing in front of the stove wearing a silk black robe. 

“Uh...hey.” Emma said, standing awkwardly at the doorway of the kitchen. The brunette turned around, wine glass in hand, and smiled at her. 

“Well hello there, sleepy head.” she said teasingly, approaching the blonde. “I hope you’re hungry, I’m making dinner.” 

“Starving.” Emma smirked at her. “You didn’t have to do that though.”

“Oh hush.” the queen lifted a hand to cup Emma’s cheek, smiling as she looked in her eyes. “I told you, I’m going to take care of you the way you always deserved to be taken care of.”

Emma blushed, looking down for a moment, but the brunette shifted her fingers under the saviour’s chin and gently lifted her head up to look at her again.

“You deserve it, Emma.” 

“I just...don’t know what to say.” Emma said. “I feel like...like everything’s okay for the first time ever in my life.”

“Because it is.” the queen shrugged. “And if it stops being like that, we’ll make it okay again. Together.”

Emma tried to say something, but the words died at the tip of her tongue. The queen smiled at her again and pushed herself up on her toes, her lips meeting the blonde’s gently. 

Emma’s stomach interrupted a minute later, getting the queen to pull back and raise a brow at the blonde.

“Let’s feed you before you quake the house down.” she chuckled, making Emma blush slightly.

“What did you make?” Emma asked. The queen shrugged. 

“Tried my hand at Regina’s lasagna, just to see if it’s a ‘me’ thing or a ‘her’ thing.” the queen shrugged. “It smells pretty much the same, let’s hope it tastes that way too.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine.” Emma shrugged. “Want me to set the table?”

“No need.” the queen said, smiling at Emma and snapping her fingers. In an instant, a purple cloud of smoke swept over the kitchen table, leaving behind a full dinner set up complete with a white tablecloth, two candlesticks, and a slim vase with a rose sitting in it. Emma blushed a little when she saw it all. 

“You really don’t have to do all this for me.” she said softly. 

“Do you like it though?” the queen asked.

“I love it.” Emma shrugged. “No one’s ever done any of this for me. So this is...an incredibly  _ good  _ feeling. I just don’t want you to go through unnecessary trouble.”

The queen wrapped her arms around Emma’s neck and gently coaxed the blonde to lean forward, pressing their foreheads together. Emma’s arms searched for the queen, and took purchase on her hips, gently holding her in place for fear of her disappearing. 

“If no one’s ever done any of this for you then, first of all, they didn’t deserve you. And second of all, that makes this even more necessary because you need to know that someone in this world loves you, and cares for you, and thinks that you’re their entire world.” the queen said before tilting her head and pressing a kiss on Emma’s lips. “The world has tried too hard to cast us out, Emma, but we’re here, happy, and together. They’ve spent a long time breaking you down until you started to believe that you weren’t worth anything unless you were helping someone else. I say you’re worth everything, on your own, just the way you are. And I’m going to do everything in my power to show you that. Every day of my life if I have to.”

Emma gulped, a lump of emotion building up in her throat. She looked into the queen’s eyes and basked in the feelings of love and care that the older woman’s words and actions afforded her. 

“I love you, Emma.”

She couldn’t speak, she knew she would break down into a mess of tears if she spoke, so instead she pulled the queen as close to her as possible by her waist and pressed their lips together, putting anything and everything that she could into that kiss to try and convey how much this all meant to her, how full her heart felt all of a sudden. The woman of her dreams was in her arms and saying and doing everything she’d yearned for for as long as she could remember. There was no longer any doubt in Emma’s mind. She was home.

* * *

They lay together in bed, having eaten dinner and fallen into bed together passionately, stripping themselves bare in front of each other and letting their bodies talk in a way their mouths never could. Every touch sent chills up Emma’s spine, every sound drove the queen crazy, every kiss had them yearning for more and more until they came undone in each other’s arms and then fell into a heap on the bed, panting and trying to even out their breathing, their scents heavy on each other. Emma slid an arm underneath the queen’s neck and pulled her closer, the queen turning on her side and hugging Emma close to her by the hips in response. 

“How was that?” Emma asked softly.

“Perfect.” the queen sighed. Emma shifted onto her side and pressed the queen’s forehead against her own gently, smiling at the brunette in her arms. The queen smiled as she looked up into Emma’s eyes for a moment, before her eyes shifted downwards and she frowned.

“Hey…” Emma nudged gently, a look of concern taking over her features. “What’s wrong?”

“I just realized something.” the queen sighed, shutting her eyes and shaking her head.

“What is it?” Emma asked.

“Your parents, Regina, Henry.” the queen shrugged. “If you don’t show up home tonight, they’ll be searching for you come morning. And if they find you with me…” 

Emma gritted her teeth. “I won’t let them do anything to you.”

“Calm down, love, please.” The queen’s hand went up to Emma’s shoulder. “Don’t stress yourself, I might have a plan. I just don’t like it because it involves us being apart for some time.”

“What is it?” Emma asked. The queen smiled at her gently, cupping her cheek.

“You’d have to go back for a bit. Spit out some fake apology about how you were highly emotional about what you’d learned and Regina found you and stayed with you while you took some time to think and you figured they tried their best to protect you blah blah blah.” the queen rolled her eyes. “Try to get through it without vomiting and pretend to go to sleep. Then transport yourself back here magically once they’ve gone to sleep.”

Emma chuckled. “It feels like being a teenager.” 

“It does.” the queen shrugged. “But it saves us a lot of trouble and angry mobs.”

“Yeah.” Emma sighed. “I just wish there was some way we could still be together.”

The queen looked at Emma in silence for a moment before she smiled, an idea having formed in her mind. She opened the palm of her hand, a small purple cloud sweeping over it and disappearing. Emma then saw a small, flat, golden, circular object in her hand. The queen handed it to the blonde, who took it gently. The top of it had a beautiful engraving of a swan with a crown on its head. There was a small round emerald where the swan’s eye should be, and three smaller, clear amethysts at the tips of the crown. The whole engraving was surrounded by a border of beautiful diamonds. 

“Open it.” the queen said. Emma pulled the decorated lid open gently to find her own reflection looking back at her.

“A mirror.” she said.

“Yes.” the queen nodded. “I’ll put some mirrors up around the cabin, and you can communicate with me through them.” 

“You know that’s what smartphones are for these days, right?” Emma teased. The queen rolled her eyes.

“Call me traditional.” she said. “This doesn’t have a battery that you have to charge.”

“Fair point.” Emma said, closing the mirror and looking at the lid again. “It’s beautiful.”

“I was thinking about you when I made it.” the queen flirted.

“Stop it.” Emma blushed. The queen scooted up closer to Emma’s face and nuzzled her gently before kissing her softly on the lips. She looked over at the clock on the wall and frowned. 

“I think you should go.” she said sadly. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Emma smiled softly at her and kissed her again. “I’ll be back soon, remember?”

The queen smiled up at Emma and the blonde kissed her again, deeply, before getting up and getting dressed. They said their goodbyes once again, before the queen used her magic to transport Emma right in front of the door to her parents’ apartment. 

The blonde found the key to the apartment in her pocket, but wasn't sure if it was her who’d put it there. In a quick flash of panic, she frantically searched for the pocket mirror until she found it in the pocket of her red leather jacket. The woolen sweater the queen had given her earlier was changed back into her jacket and shirt, but thankfully they were dry and warm.

She opened the door to the loft and found Snow and David sitting on the couch, looking worried. 

“Emma!” Snow shot up and ran over to hug her.

“Uhm...hey.” she said.

“We were worried sick!” David said, hugging his daughter from the other side. Emma saw the blown out windows and bulbs and gulped, having previously ignored the damage she’d done to the loft.

“Is Neil okay?” she asked. 

“He’s fine sweetie.” Snow said.

“We took him to Granny’s so she can watch him because we were about to go out and search for you.” David said. “What happened Emma?”

“I...ugh.” Emma sighed and remembered the plan the queen had come up with. “Rumple told me that whole thing with you guys and lily and the darkness or whatever. I guess my emotions got the better of me.”

“You could say that again.” David said, glancing at the windows. 

“Regina found me in the woods, she stayed with me till I calmed down and then let me talk the whole thing out. I mean...I still don’t totally approve of your methods but I guess I can understand trying anything you can to protect your kid.” Emma shrugged. “So I guess, I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine, Emma.” Snow said. “We knew it would take you some time to realize why we did what we did. We’re just glad you’re home safe.” 

“Come on, how about we go get some dinner, huh?” David said.

“Actually, I’m not really hungry. I ate on the way home.” Emma said. “But you guys go on ahead, have dinner and pick up Neil. I’ll see if I can get these windows and lights fixed and get some sleep.”

“If you’re sure?” Snow said. Emma nodded.

“I am.” 

“Okay honey.” David said, the both of them giving Emma a hug before they grabbed their things and left the loft.

As soon as they were gone, Emma pulled the pocket mirror out and opened it, seeing the queen standing in the bedroom, waiting for her by the looks of it.

“Hey.” Emma smiled at her. The queen smiled back.

“How did it go?” she asked.

“Perfect.” Emma shrugged. “They seemed to buy it.”

“Good.” the queen nodded. 

“They invited me to dinner too.” Emma shrugged. “But I’m not hungry.”

The queen rolled her eyes. “Of course, once they realised how badly they screwed up you’re suddenly their favourite again. Be careful Emma, if you trust them again they’ll probably just pull the same crap they did earlier.” 

“Don’t worry, you know how I get once I’ve been bitten.” Emma shrugged. “I miss you already.”

“I’ll be here when you get back in just a little bit, my love.” the queen smiled. “Just be strong for me, okay?”

Emma smiled at her. “I will. Do you think you can show me how to fix these windows?”

“Set the mirror down on the table and stand in front of them.” the queen said. Emma followed her instructions and then looked at her. “Now, hold your arms up, palms out…”

Emma brought her arms up into the position the queen had asked her to and glanced down at the mirror again.

“Now, you need to dig deep, find what drives you. Don’t think of anything that might upset you. Something that calms you and brings you peace. Breathe deeply and let that energy flow through you.” 

Emma followed the queen’s guidance, her mind going to the moment earlier today when she was being held by the queen, and took a deep breath, feeling the magic slowly and calmly flowing through her like water as she exhaled. She kept the breathing technique up and could feel herself in control of her magic for the first time in a long time. 

“It’s working.” she said, trying not to get too excited in case it put her off kilter.

“Stay calm, breathe, now picture the magic flowing out to the windows and fixing up the glass.” the queen instructed gently. Emma did so, her eyes still closed as she pictured wisps of magic flowing out of her hands. The energy she could feel coursing through her veins followed the patterns in her mind and it felt like she was controlling strings. The feeling gave her a rush of excitement, but she kept breathing and focusing on staying calm. She pictured the missing pieces of the glass appearing back in place, and combining themselves with what was left of the windows and their frames. She felt her energy being used for something physical, like when you lift something that has some weight to it, but nothing too heavy.

“Emma? Open your eyes.” the queen said. Emma did so slowly, her arms still held out. When her vision became clear, the windows were fixed, and a smile appeared on her face.

“I did it!” she cheered, rushing to pick up the pocket mirror and turn it to face the windows. “See?”

“I see, my love.” the queen nodded. “I’m proud of you.”

Emma blushed and turned the mirror back to look at it. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”

“You could have, you just needed some gentle guidance.” the queen said. “Wanna try the light bulbs next?”

Emma looked up at the lights and then nodded eagerly, putting the mirror down again and following the queen’s guidance again. The lights got fixed in record time and Emma jumped excitedly when she saw they were repaired.

“This is fun!” she said to the queen as she climbed the stairs to go to her bedroom. 

“It is, isn’t it?” the queen chuckled.

“It feels so good to be in control for once.” Emma sighed. “Too bad I can’t be in control like that all the time.”

“What do you mean?” the queen asked.

“I mean, look at this.” Emma said. “I want to be with you but I have to be here, why? I hate this. Why can’t I just be like any other adult and not have to answer to anyone? I’m sneaking around like a teenager for my parents’ sake when I’m this crazy powerful wielder of magic. I’m the  _ saviour  _ aren’t I? Shouldn’t I be given any freedom I please? This whole thing is bullshit.” 

“Calm yourself, my love.” the queen said gently.

“I would be calm if I just was able to live my life my way, you know? I always did that before Storybrooke. Now I have to appease everyone else. If I’m the saviour, shouldn’t I be calling the shots?” Emma said. The queen smiled at her gently and gave her a nod.

“We’ll figure something out. This charade won’t last long, I promise.” the queen smiled at her. “For now, get some rest.”

“I wanna talk to you.” Emma said. “I would rather be holding you but…”

Emma sighed and the queen nodded. “Just a couple of hours.” 

“I know.” Emma sighed. “Wake me up when I can come back?”

“I will, my love.” the queen nodded. Emma placed the mirror on her bed and lay on her side, looking at the queen until she slowly drifted off to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

A week had passed since the queen and Emma had started their secret romance, and they had worked out a pretty steady routine. Emma would go to work, sneaking off whenever she could, and then make some excuse after that to sneak off to the cabin, she’d spend some time there, go home, pretend to go to sleep, and then teleport back to the cabin so they could spend the night together. She would take the graveyard shifts when possible so that it would be easier to sneak around. With her father being the deputy, that wasn’t an incredibly difficult task. It was complicated. But both of them agreed that it was worth it so that they could be together. At least until they figured out a better way of doing so.

A few days in, however, the queen started getting an uneasy feeling that something would soon happen. And when one day Rumple showed up at the cabin after Emma had left, she realized she was right. Still, she allowed him inside and made them both some tea, hoping to figure out what he was up to before it was too late.

“So how’s the Saviour?” Rumple asked. 

“She seems fine.” The queen chuckled. “Happier than I ever saw her before.”

“And you?” Rumple carried on, one of his legs crossed over the other as he sat at the kitchen table of the cabin he’d created for the evil queen. 

“Happier than I could ever be.” The queen said as she sipped her tea. “Emma is mine and I get to enjoy her company without any guilt or anyone holding me back.”

“Good...Good.” Rumplestiltskin nodded, a smirk forming on his face.

“What’s on your mind?” the queen raised a brow. 

“I need a favour from you.” Rumple said, pointing at her. The queen frowned. 

“What kind of favour?” she asked.

“You see, I have a plan, or rather, a  _ dream. _ ” he said theatrically. “It’s a simple dream, really.”

“Could you just spit it out, or do you have a speech written?” the queen asked with a roll of her eyes.

“Always so impatient.” Rumple waved her off. “Without my human side, I have no real goals or ambitions. I’m just a simple being of darkness. All I want is to watch chaos reign. And for something to reign, it needs…”

He opened his psalm and gestured towards her.

“A queen.”

The brunette put her cup down and sat up straight, her face dour as she looked at him expectantly. 

“What the hell are you planning?” she asked, reflexively gritting her teeth.

“ _ You  _ my sweet little prodigy, will make an appearance in Storybrooke. You will lay siege to the town and wreak havoc. Impersonate Regina, reject a bunch of council proposals, play around with funds, insult that forest scented thief of hers till he cries. When the time is right, you’ll reveal yourself, and then declare the town as yours. They’ll try to stop you of course, but  _ I  _ will be playing the part of good old reformed Rumple, and giving them false advice on how to stop you. Eventually, I’ll reveal myself as well. But by then it’ll be too late. The Swan will have been long corrupted, so there’s no way she’ll stand against you, and without her this town stands no chance against us.” Rumple explained. “Then you and the saviour get to ride into the sunset or whatever it is women do these days.”

“This was your plan all along.” The queen said. “Separate me and Regina and then use me to get to Emma.” 

“Well...yes.” Rumple nodded and shrugged.

“You slimy lizard.” The queen said through gritted teeth.

“Oh come now, don’t tell me you’re surprised.” he chuckled. “What is it I always tell you, Regina? All magic comes with a price.”

The queen stood up abruptly. “I am  _ not  _ Regina. And you are  _ not  _ going to use my love for Emma as a pawn in your sick plans!”

Rumple stood up calmly. “You owe me, Regina. You owe me for freeing you from that waste of potential you were attached to. You owe me for giving you Emma. In fact, you still owe me for teaching you magic in the first place!”

He disappeared in a cloud so thick and black, it looked like a hole had been ripped in space. He suddenly appeared right in front of her in a similar cloud, and before she could react, he had her by the throat. 

“Face it, your majesty... _ I own you _ .”

Something snapped inside the queen’s mind just then, and she summoned all the magic she could to push Rumplestiltskin away, blowing him back into the table and crushing it in the process. He tried to get up, but faltered and failed, clearly weakened. She stared at him, realization coming over her.

“You’re right.” she smirked. “Without your human side, you have no goals. No ambitions. You have nothing to keep you whole save for the magic of the dark one. You’re nothing but a shrivelling husk, and your plan is nothing but a feeble attempt at creating more havoc because that’s the only way you’ll survive in this town.”

“You’re nothing. You’re  _ weak…”  _ She hovered over him, looking down on him and sneering. Then realization fell over her _ “... _ But you hold so much power within you...Power that can grant it’s wielder so much control over everything...power that’s wasted with you.”

“Watch yourself, queenie, I only need to get back on my feet, and then I’ll show you what’s wasted.” he threatened.

“While you do that, you might want to go crawl under a rock or something. Emma will be here soon. And something tells me you currently don’t have the strength to take on the both of us.” the queen said.

Rumple sneered back at her. “Mark my words, your majesty, you  _ will  _ see my plan through...Or your little pet swan will pay the price.”

He disappeared in a black cloud, and the queen let out a shuddering breath she’d been holding in. 

She managed to fix the table and clear up the mess in a matter of seconds, which was good because Emma walked through the door in just as much time.

“Hey.” she smiled at the brunette and took her into her arms leaning in and kissing her deeply on the lips. “I’ve been thinking about you all morning...After last night...I can’t stop.”

“Emma…” the queen began gently.

“I know, I promise to take it slower this time.” the blonde leaned down and began kissing the queen’s neck, getting a sigh from the older woman in response. “I just couldn’t get enough of you.”

“Emma.” the queen took her hands firmly and pulled away slightly, getting a confused look from the blonde.

“Is everything okay?” she asked.

“...No.” the queen sighed. “Something happened. And I wish I could forget about it and carry on with whatever you were trying to start just now but I’m afraid doing so would put you in jeopardy and I would never forgive myself for allowing it.”

Emma looked at her like she’d grown a second head. “What are you talking about?”

“Rumplestiltskin.” The queen gulped. Emma raised a brow at her. 

“What happened?” she asked.

“He’s threatening me. He said I owe him for everything in our past. He said he…” the queen sighed and looked away from the blonde. “He said he owned me.”

“Bullshit!” Emma exclaimed. “Nobody fucking owns you and I’ll fucking deal with anyone who thinks they do! I knew I shouldn’t have trusted that rat.”

“He said something about a plan that involved us both. Emma I’m worried sick that he’s going to hurt you. And he might try to use me to get to you.” the queen said.

“It won’t happen.” Emma shook her head.

“While he’s around, there’s nothing that can guarantee that.” the queen said. “I have a plan Emma...but I don’t know if you’ll like it.”

“I’m open to anything.” Emma said. “I’m sick of that evil little shit fucking up my life  _ and  _ yours!”

“Well…” the queen took a deep breath. “We always said if you had more control...we’d be free of having to hide anymore. Now we want to be free of him too...I think I know how we can get both.”

“Tell me.” Emma said. “I’ll do anything for us, you know that.”

The queen nodded.

“The only way to stop Rumple, control the darkness, keep the town safe, and be free to do whatever you want without anyone being able to stop you…Is to take the Dark One’s life.”

* * *

They hatched a plan together, waiting a couple of days so that the dark one could let his guard down and not expect either of them. And then they struck. 

“Rumple?” Emma said as she walked through the door. 

“Ah, the saviour.” the old man greeted, standing in front of the store counter, still putting up the act of being his good side, just as Emma had expected. “To what do I owe this honour?”

“Heard some more reports from neighbours about kids running around at odd hours of the night, a couple of broken windows and that kind of thing. Came to see if they’d struck again.” 

“My shop remains unharmed, thankfully.” he said. “I appreciate you stopping by.”

“Of course, any time. Sheriff’s duty and all that.” she said. She turned around and looked at her phone when it buzzed a text. She could feel the dark one glaring at her, but ignored the feeling as she turned back around. “Oh hey, by the way, is it true that stuff that’s sealed by blood magic can only be opened by you or your blood relatives?” 

“Of course. Why do you think I seal my safe in such a way?” he shrugged.

“Then how come you don’t keep your dagger in there?” she asked.

“Excuse me?!” he demanded. Suddenly, a cloud of purple smoke came up beside Emma, and the evil queen appeared, dressed in a black, regal gown with her hair pinned up, with the dark one’s dagger in her hand. She shook her head disappointedly, and tutted at him.

“Sloppy placement, Rumple, really...I would have expected better from my old teacher.” she said.

“You b-” he began.

“Uh uh...I don’t think so.” the queen held up the dagger and smirked at him. “ _ Kneel  _ before your queen.”

Not having any say in the matter, Rumple slowly kneeled on the floor, sneering up at the two women in front of him.

“See what I told you?” the queen said to Emma. “He lied about removing his dark side. He’s been playing you all along.” 

“You son of a bitch.” Emma grabbed him roughly by his jacket and got in his face. “You lied to me! You tricked me! You swore on  _ Neil’s grave  _ you fucking  _ bastard!” _

“Took you a while to catch on there, saviour, but you never were very bright, were you?” he teased.

“You’re lucky I still hold your son’s memory sacred, you piece of shit, because if it weren’t for the fact that it would make his death meaningless, I’d kill you right now.” Emma said.

“Emma…” the queen said, placing a hand on her shoulder. “He  _ did  _ separate himself from his dark side... _ this  _ is his dark side. The good side of rumplestiltskin is long gone.”

“Oh yes, by all means, believe the woman who tried to curse untold millions.” Rumple taunted. Emma growled at him but the queen got her to let him go and pulled her upright again.

“There’s only one way to know for sure.” she said, handing Emma the dagger. The blonde took the dagger and looked at the queen before looking back at Rumple. She held the dagger out towards him and spoke carefully.

“I command you to tell me - did you separate yourself from your good side?” she asked.

“Yes.” the dark one sneered at her. 

“Neil died to save his father. This husk of a man isn’t his father, Emma, it’s everything Neil didn’t want his father to become.” the queen said. “Having his dagger isn’t enough, Emma. Not for what we want in life. You could control the darkness, keep it at bay, you could keep everyone safe and not have to answer to anyone about us being together. You could have it all, Emma.”

Emma’s grip tightened on the dagger’s hilt and she gritted her teeth. 

“She won’t do it. She’s weak. It’s why everyone always abandons her. It’s why nobody wants her.” Rumple snickered. 

“He’s lying Emma, you know that.” the queen whispered in the blonde’s ear. “Do it...for me...for us.”

Emma stepped forward, grabbing rumple by the back of his jacket. She pulled the dagger back, and in one swift motion, plunged it deep into his heart. 

The transformation happened in a flash. The magic drew itself out of Rumple through the dagger and into Emma. Devoid of all humanity, the darkness began pouring out in thick wisps of black clouds from Rumples eyes and mouth, swirling around Emma and hiding her away from the queen’s sight. 

Emma felt Rumplestiltskin’s body melt away from her grip, and the magic surrounding her poured itself into her veins through her grip on the dagger. She felt everything changing. From her hair to her skin and her clothes. It melded with her own magic and took up residence in her heart, her skin burning to accommodate such raw power.

When the clouds dissipated, Emma turned, looking at the queen. The brunette took a moment to take her in. Emma’s hair had gone completely white and was pulled up in a tight bun, and her lips looked as red as blood in contrast to her skin, which had gone so pale it resembled ice. Her outfit had changed as well, her usual casual clothing now changed to dark leather pants and a scaled asymmetric jacket. 

The queen smiled, a hand going to Emma’s cheek, before she swept it across her skin, onto her shoulder, and then rested it on her chest, happy to still feel the blonde’s heartbeat as she played with the lapel of Emma’s jacket, getting a soft smile from her.

“Darkness looks good on you, savior.” she said softly, staring into Emma’s grey eyes as she leaned in, pressing a kiss against Emma’s lips. The blonde quickly wrapped her arms around the queen and pulled her closer, deepening the kiss and slipping her tongue into the queen’s mouth, getting a moan in response. 

Emma transported them both to the cabin, landing them in the bedroom where she lay the queen down on the bed.

“Two days ago I tried to start something with you, now I aim to finish it.” she said, leaning down and attaching her lips to the queen’s neck, getting a deep moan in response. 

“As you wish, Emma.” the queen moaned.

* * *

They made love till the sun went down, the darkness clearly enhancing some of Emma’s more...animalistic instincts. Emma no longer needed sleep, but their activities certainly did wear the queen out. When she’d finally woken up, it was night time, and Emma was staring into one of the mirrors in the bedroom.

“What are you watching?” the queen asked jokingly. Emma looked over to her and then back at the mirror.

“Regina.” she answered. The queen raised a brow.

“Why?”

“I don’t know.” Emma shrugged. “I got curious.”

“I know there are parts of her that I don’t have. She was foolish enough to believe she could be whole without me. Neither of us can without the other.” she sighed. “And I know that that must mean that you still want her, despite having me.”

Emma turned sharply to look at the queen, and before the brunette could say anything else, Emma was straddling her and leaning in for a hot, passionate kiss.

“I am  _ yours. _ ” Emma said. “And yours alone.”

The queen smiled up at her. “I say we pay Regina a little visit.”

* * *

Regina sat in her study at 108 Mifflin street, trying to do some work which she didn’t manage to finish at the office. She’d had a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach all week, unsure exactly why, but she knew something was up. 

Her mind constantly went to Emma, a fact she rolled her eyes at repeatedly, usually because whenever she realised how much she was thinking about the blonde, her own inner thoughts would provide some sarcastic comment about how unnatural it was to think about the woman you’re secretly in love with. She shook her head at herself. The idea that Emma would ever want her was beyond logical reason. Besides, there were other reasons she was thinking of the blonde.

For starters, she hadn’t seen her all week, which was unusual, and Henry had repeatedly said she’d been busy. She’d told Regina she’d be working night shifts repeatedly in the past week and Regina was ready to go give David a piece of her mind for lumping all the night shifts on his daughter. But she respected Emma enough to not cross any boundaries, especially when the blonde seemed to be pulling away from everything. 

And then there was the other niggling feeling in the back of her head - for the whole past week, she couldn’t stop thinking about how she’d banished the evil queen from inside of her, and then killed her. It should have been satisfying, but it wasn’t...In fact it worried her even more. 

She got up to make herself some tea to try and calm her nerves, but when she got to the kitchen, she saw a figure sitting at the table, and dropped her cup in shock, letting it shatter on the floor. 

“You...I killed you! You died in front of my eyes!”

“Hello dear.” the evil queen said to her with a smile. “It’s nice to see you too.”


	6. Chapter 6

_ “You...I killed you! You died in front of my eyes!” _

_ “Hello dear.” the evil queen said to her with a smile. “It’s nice to see you too.” _

“How are you alive?!” Regina demanded.

“Because even with all our experience with magic, Regina, you still underestimate certain things.” the queen said, “Did you really think you could kill me so easily?”

“I crushed your heart! You turned to dust!” Regina said. 

“And if I tell you it was a trick, would you really be surprised?” the queen rolled her eyes. Regina gritted her teeth. “Face it, Regina, we’re linked. I only die if you do.”

“So to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?” Regina crossed her arms. “Came to gloat?”

“Well...Yes.” The queen grinned at her. “You see, in the past week, while you’ve been living in some kind of sick, twisted fantasy of being free of me, I’ve won something, or rather, some _ one  _ that you’ve wanted for ages.” 

“What the hell are you talking about?” Regina’s face dropped to a worried expression. 

“You abandoned her, Regina, just like everyone else did. The woman you’re supposedly in love with, and you left her to face every challenge in her life on her own. All to play house with a man you  _ think  _ you love because a second-rate fairy needed to impress her superiors. All the while  _ Emma  _ has been suffering on her own and she’s been  _ right there,  _ Regina. Feeling for us the same things we feel for her. And you barely gave her the time of day. Well now I’m righting  _ your  _ wrongs, Regina, I’m giving her  _ everything  _ she ever wanted. Love. Power. Control over her own life so no one will  _ ever  _ hurt her ever again...not even you.” The queen sneered at her. Regina’s eyes went wide and she reached over, gripping the queen’s throat.

“What did you do to her?!” she demanded. “Where is Emma?!”

“Come see for yourself.” the queen chuckled, before disappearing from beneath Regina’s grip. She popped up behind her and Regina rushed towards her, but the queen was taunting her, slowly leading her out the front door, and when the queen walked out of the house and then disappeared, Regina rushed out after her only to get the shock of her life. 

Standing at the far end of the walkway that lead from the curb to Regina’s front door, with her hands behind her back, standing ramrod straight, her skin as white as snow and her expression as cold as ice, was Emma.

“No…” Regina let out as all the air left her lungs. Her legs started shaking, but she pushed on to walk up to Emma, who didn’t move a muscle as she approached her. 

“E...Emma?” 

“Hello Regina.” the blonde answered. 

“W-” Regina’s mouth started moving, and she tried to talk, but no words came up. She reached up as if she was going to touch Emma’s face, but hesitated, as if she were afraid to get burned. “W-w-what has she done to you?”

“Nothing.” Emma said cooly, glancing up and down Regina’s body before her eyes landed on the brunette’s again. “I did this to myself... _ for  _ myself.”

“Emma...please tell me you didn’t do what I think you did.” Regina said, a lump forming in her throat as the tears began to burn her eyes. “Tell me this is some sick joke. Just tell me it’s a silly trick and we’ll just forget it ever-”

“It’s not a trick!” Emma snapped. “For once in my life, I can control my magic. I get to control  _ my own life _ !”

“Emma please! Please don’t do this! Don’t run off with her. Stay with me, we'll fix this. We’ll...we’ll figure it out like we always do.” Regina pleaded, her hands going to rest on Emma’s shoulder and cup the blonde’s face. “Please...I-”

A cloud of purple smoke appeared next to Emma, and the queen laughed at Regina’s plight.

“It’s too late, Regina.” she said. “She’s mine. And she’s got more power than you’d ever know what to do with.”

“Emma…” Regina pleaded again. The queen pulled a dagger out from a hiding spot in her dress.

“My love, I believe this is yours.” she said, making a show of handing the dagger to Emma. The sight of the curvy blade with the heart at the end of the hilt made Regina’s blood run cold. Emma took it gently, looking at the name on it before she turned it around so that Regina could see it. Regina hesitated even looking, but eventually she couldn’t fight it anymore, and looked down to read the name…

_ Emma Swan. _

“No…” was the only word that came out of her mouth as her breath left her lungs. 

“I think we’re done here, love.” the queen said, lacing her arm around Emma’s and winning the blonde’s focus. “Let’s go home.”

“As you wish.” Emma said, smiling at the brunette and holding a hand up, she snapped her finger, and the two of them disappeared in a jet-black cloud of dark magic. Regina, despite herself, crumpled to the ground in tears. 

“No!” she screamed as they both disappeared. If she heard the crack of lightning above her, she didn’t pay it any mind, and if she felt the rain hitting her skin and soaking her clothes, she didn’t notice until she moved to get up. She didn’t trust her magic just then, nor her driving ability, so she had to shut her front door and run to the only place she could think to go. 

* * *

“David, is Emma working the night shift again?” Snow asked from her seat on the couch.

“I think so.” David said from behind the kitchen island. “She didn’t say anything, I barely saw her today.”

“Me too...this pattern has been the norm lately. I’m getting worried about her.” Snow said.

“I’m sure she’s fine, honey, maybe she’s just sorting a few things out. I know we reconciled what happened last week but...something tells me it’s still bothering her.” David said. 

“I just wish she would talk to us more.” Snow sighed. “I think we did something to upset her without realizing it and she’s still hurting.”

David was about to answer when rapid, panicked knocking came from the door. “What the hell…”

Snow rushed up off the couch and to the door, opening it to find Regina, panic in her eyes and soaked to the skin. “Regina!”

“Snow! David! Something awful’s happened.” she said. Snow reached over, immediately grabbing Regina’s arm and pulling her inside. 

“You’re freezing and shaking!” Snow said, turning to her husband. “David, get her a blanket or something before she freezes to death.”

“I don’t need a blanket, I need you to listen!” Regina said, tears flowing freely from her eyes. 

“What’s going on?” Snow asked as David came up to Regina and wrapped her up in a blanket. The shorter brunette lead her over to the couch, and David ran off to the kitchen to make some tea to warm her up. 

“It’s Emma...I made a horrible mistake.” Regina sobbed, dropping her head in her hands. “Oh god…”

“Regina, what happened?!” Snow all but demanded now, worried both about the woman in front of her and her daughter. Regina sucked in a deep breath and tried as hard as she could to stay calm as she spoke. 

She explained everything to them. The potion Robin gave her. How she separated herself from the Evil Queen. How she thought she’d killed her but how woefully wrong she was. She explained how she saw Emma. How different she looked. How  _ cold  _ she felt every time she spoke. 

“Before they left...The Evil Queen handed Emma the Dark One’s dagger...and the name on it…” Regina sobbed. “It...it was Emma’s.”

Snow dropped her jaw. David dropped his cup. 

“What?!” came from the staircase. Regina’s head snapped up to see her son standing there in his pyjamas, eyes wide and looking at her, silently pleading with her to tell her it was all a lie. 

“Henry…” she sniffled. “I’m...I’m so sorry.”

“No!” he screamed. “No she can’t be!”

The boy ran over to his mother, wrapping his arms around her, ignoring the fact that he was soaking his pyjamas as a result.

“I’m so sorry Henry.” Regina sobbed into his shoulder. “It’s all my fault.”

“Regina.” Snow sighed. “It’s not your fault.” 

She looked at David, who frowned and gritted his teeth. 

“It’s ours.” he said. “We pushed her aside...we didn’t even realize we were doing it.” 

“What do you mean?” Henry asked.

“We…” Snow sighed, uncertain how to explain this to a boy who was little more than a child at his age. “We were so caught up with Neil and spending time with each other...Her magic would get out of control when she got emotional and we wanted to give her her space...I guess we kind of…”

“You forgot about her.” Henry said. 

“Henry, we can’t just throw around accusations.” Regina said.

“What about you?” he asked her.

“What about me?” she asked back.

“You were her friend! You were supposed to teach her magic so she could control it properly!” he said. “But you were spending so much time with Robin all the time! I told you I was worried about her and you didn’t listen! None of you listened and now  _ I  _ lost my mom!”

“Henry Daniel Mills-”

“NO!” he shouted. “You don’t get to be mad at me for being upset! I get to be upset about this! You didn’t treat Emma right and she lost her way! You have to fix it! I don’t care what happens, you have to bring my mom back!”

He ran up to his bedroom, not saying another word, and leaving an already distraught Regina completely, and utterly shattered. 

* * *

It was early morning, and the air was still frosty from the storm that had come down on Storybrooke the night before. It wasn’t her usual routine, but nothing was usual anymore, and she desperately needed to see her daughter. So Snow White found herself hiking through the woods, hoping against hope that her instincts as to Emma’s whereabouts were right.

She came upon a fallen tree, overlooking a cliff, and was somehow drawn to it. She stood beside the fallen tree and looked around, taking a deep breath of cold morning air before calling out…

“Emma?” she called out, the forest suddenly getting eerily quiet, at least she thought it did. “Emma? Are you out there...It’s...Well...it’s your mother.”

“I know who you are.” Emma’s voice suddenly came up behind her, making Snow jump three feet in the air and turn around rapidly. 

“Emma! You scared...me…” Snow stopped, staring at her daughter and how the darkness had changed her. “Oh...my god...Emma.”

“What’s wrong, Snow? Don’t like what you see?” Emma asked.

“Emma...please just listen to me, okay? Your father and I are sorry...we didn’t mean to-”

“Abandon me?” Emma cut her off. “Neglect me despite how much I still wanted you around?  _ Replace  _ me?”

“Neil was never meant to be a replacement Emma, you know that we just-”

“You just wanted a chance at being real parents, instead of having to deal with the adult daughter you shoved into a wardrobe and left to a life of misery.” Emma accused, her words cutting Snow like a knife.

“We  _ had  _ to do that Emma the curse could only be broken-”

“Breaking a curse was more important than my safety?” Emma asked. “The rest of the world mattered more to you than your own daughter?”

“No! It didn’t! But as king and queen-”

“I was a pawn in your strategy to break the curse, nothing more, nothing less.” Emma cut her off again. 

“Will you just let me speak?”

“No!” Emma roared. “I’m done with listening to your half-assed excuses of why you had to do this and why you had to do that. You didn’t  _ have  _ to have so little faith in your unborn child that you corrupted another’s life just to make sure I turned out to be the perfect little princess. You didn’t  _ have  _ to try and control every aspect of my life to the point where I can’t even tell you who I truly love without fear of being judged. You didn’t  _ have  _ to push me aside because I had trouble separating my magic from my emotions and you were scared I’d hurt someone! You didn’t have to abandon me. But you did. Over and over again. And now you’re here, terrified because of what I can do and how much power I hold, and what I might use it for.”

“What will you use it for?” Snow asked, taken aback and choking back tears.

“ _ Nothing _ .” Emma seethed. “I just want to be left alone so I can be with the woman I love. I just want to  _ control  _ the darkness so that it doesn’t get to wreak havoc. I just wanted Rumplestiltskin gone so he would stop threatening her.” 

“Her...The Evil Queen…”

“She’s  _ not  _ evil!” Emma screamed in her mother’s face, making Snow flinch and take a step back. “She was hurt, and abused, and he took advantage of all of that! And instead of trying to help her, you persecuted her!”

“Emma...how long have you been in love with Regina?” Snow asked.

“None of your business!” Emma spat. “You wouldn’t understand, you’d never accept! Besides... _ Regina  _ is too busy hiding her true feelings to play house with some two-bit thief.” 

Snow shook her head and sighed. “You have no idea what kind of state you left Regina in last night. She was distraught...so was Henry.”

“Henry?” Emma gritted her teeth.

“He overheard Regina explaining what happened. He’s torn up about all of this, Emma.” Snow said. “Though there is one thing you two agree on, he thinks this is all our fault too.”

“And you?” Emma sneered. “What do you think?”

“I think you were in a vulnerable position and the evil queen took advantage of you.” Snow said. “Emma, I know you think she loves you but-” 

“No!” Emma roared again. “You won’t do that! You won’t try to turn me against her! I was sitting at this very tree  _ dying  _ inside and wondering if there was any reason left for me to live and she came and brought me out of the rain and gave me something to live for. I don’t care what you say or how you feel about her. I  _ know  _ she’s being true! I never lost my ability to sense when people are lying, Snow. I just stopped wasting it on you. You’re not worth the effort...and you’re not worth my time. Go home. Don’t ever come back here again. And if you even  _ think  _ about hurting my queen, I won’t hesitate to use my new powers.” 

Snow opened her mouth to say something, but Emma disappeared in a cloud of jet-black smoke that completely blinded Snow for a moment until it dissipated. 

* * *

“I tried talking to her.” Snow said with a sigh as she walked into Regina’s house with David and Henry in tow. 

“And?” Regina raised a brow.

“And I wish I hadn’t.” the shorter woman crossed her arms almost petulantly. “She’s hurt, I can tell that much...it’s all my fault.”

“Our fault.” David said. “I have a mind of my own, I could have done something.”

Henry brushed past his mother and into the kitchen without a word, and Regina sighed, silently agreeing that she too had played a hand in this...perhaps a bigger one than anyone else thought. 

They scoured her old books for hours to try and find some way to reverse the Dark One’s curse, but the only information they had was what they already knew. The only way to get rid of the dark one was to kill them, and take the darkness for yourself.

Eventually, everyone started getting upset, tired, and losing hope. Henry was the first one to storm off to his bedroom, having barely said a word to any of them since they’d arrived, and Snow, David, and Regina agreed that it would probably be best for all of them if they took a break, despite how much they all wanted to keep searching. 

Regina sat in the kitchen on her own, still desperately trying to think of ways to bring Emma back. It was difficult to fathom, even if she'd seen it with her own eyes, what the darkness had done to the blonde, and it felt like there was a stone in her chest holding all the guilt of what had happened, because despite how upset she'd been when Henry said it, she did truly believe it was partly her fault that Emma had gone dark.

She'd told Robin something was up, but didn't go into details for fear of him trying to 'help.' The truth was that despite everything, the way he'd placed his words, the way he suggested she cast her past and her dark side aside because he feared it rearing it's ugly head, still lingered. It had hurt, him telling her that he basically didn't trust her to keep a level head. And with everything that was going on now...she had to fight herself to not lay any blame on him.

Still...That didn't stop him from showing up unannounced.

"Regina." he said, walking in through the back door.

"Robin!" she said, startled. "what the hell?"

"Well I knocked on the front door but there was no answer so I hopped the fence and..." he realized something was wrong by the way she glared at him.

"I have a doorbell for a reason, Robin." she said.

"I'm sorry...I thought perhaps...uh..." he gulped. "I suppose I was wrong either way."

"Mmhm..." she sighed and shook her head. "I'm sorry Robin I really don't have time right now, we're still working things out and it's taking a mental load."

"Well...perhaps I can help uhh...relax you, then?" he suggested with a boyish smirk.

"Somehow I don't think that's going to fix it." Regina said, trying not to roll her eyes at him. 

"Well...we could at least give it a try, no?" he said. 

"No. Thank you." Regina deadpanned.

“Regina…” he frowned. “I can’t help but notice that something’s been off about you lately.” 

“What makes you say that?” Regina furrowed a brow at him. 

“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “You’re not as...playful?”

“Well I have a lot on my mind, Robin, so the stress will take its toll.” she said. 

“It’s not just that, love.” he said. “Something’s different. It has been since the night I…” 

“Since you what?” Regina sighed, unamused and not in the mood for this conversation. 

“Since I gave you that potion that Rumplestiltskin had given me.” he said, furrowing his brow at her.

“Well gee, Robin, what did you expect?” she all but snapped at him. His eyes went wide and she sighed at him. “Look I told you I was busy, and stressed, maybe this isn’t the best time for this conversation.”

“I didn’t realize we needed to have a conversation.” Robin said.

“Go home. I will call you later.” Regina got up and went upstairs to her bedroom, hoping he’d take the hint. Alas Robin Hood was nothing if not persistent, so naturally, he followed her.

“Regina wait, I think you said something just now that requires immediate attention.” he said, shutting the bedroom door behind him. Regina ran a frustrated hand through her hair and sighed.

“Robin I told you, I’m busy!” she said again.

“With what? What could possibly be more important than-” 

“Than you?!” she cut him off, causing his ears to go red in shame. “How about this, Robin, how about the fact that Emma Swan is now the Dark One?!”

“What?” Robin gawked. “That’s impossible, Rumple killed the-”

“Rumplestiltskin  _ lied to you. _ ” Regina rolled her eyes. “I can’t believe I have to spell that one out. He lied to you. And you bought it. And what’s worse? He used you to get to me and I was stupid enough to listen to you!” 

“Well...I was only trying to help.” he said.

“Help with what? With making me feel ashamed for my past, no matter how hard I’ve worked to redeem myself? With casting aside a part of me that will  _ remain  _ a part of me no matter what? I may have removed my dark side, Robin, but now she’s alive and sentient and she corrupted Emma to the point where Emma has become the dark one.” Regina ranted. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to-”

“I’m sorry too Robin because I can’t do this anymore. You clearly think that side of me was some kind of monster and there are feelings in my heart I can’t deny anymore. We can’t be together, Robin. I’m sorry. It’s over.”

“Regina please, I’m sorry, I made a mistake. I admit that but we don’t have to end things just because of that.” he said. “Please, let’s just take a minute to calm down and talk about it.”

“There’s nothing to talk about I-” Regina began, but she took a sharp breath inward as her chest swelled and her heart raced and she felt warm all over. It felt like...happiness. Like pure, unadulterated joy coming from an unknown source and it was completely overwhelming that before Regina even realized it, tears began spilling from her eyes.

“Regina, come here…” Robin said, thinking she was merely upset about their fight. “It’s alright.”

“Don’t.” she waved him off. “Don’t touch me, Robin I told you I don’t want this anymore I Just want…” 

She didn’t realize at first, but as she was waving Robin off, a spark of magic flew from her hand and landed on her full length mirror, the magic following the place her heart was going towards, and showing Emma and the queen, sitting together, switching between kissing tenderly and gently nuzzling each other. Robin had taken a step back, and Regina stood fully facing the mirror when the image came up.

It was too much for the brunette, however. Seeing that version of herself being held so gently, loved so tenderly, watching the dark side that she’d cast out being wholly and completely loved by  _ Emma.  _

Before Regina even realized it, she crumpled to her knees in front of the mirror, her tears falling freely as she began to sob.

“Her!” she cried. “I want her.”

“Emma Swan…” Robin said. “You’ve been in love with her all this time.”

“Yes!” Regina sobbed. “And I denied that part of myself because I thought...I thought she’d want nothing to do with me after all I did to her...But there she is...Loving the very same dark side that ruined her life.”

“But Regina, she’s gone dark herself...That’s why…”

Regina shook her head. “Emma took the darkness because Rumple threatened the queen...She told Snow as much this morning.”

“Emma Swan has been in love with you this whole time, as well.” Robin gulped. 

“I’m such an idiot.” Regina sighed as she wiped at her eyes. “This is all my fault. She needed me and I abandoned her. This is all my  _ fucking  _ fault.”

“Regina.” Robin stepped over to her gently, kneeling down beside her to try and coax her up to her feet. “Regina if what you say is true, if you and Emma love each other as much as it seems here...Then I think I know how you might bring Emma back to normal.”

  
  
  



	7. Chapter 7

“Emma.” Henry called out, looking around on the shore by his old wooden castle where he used to play as a kid. “Emma? Come out! I need to talk to you! I know you can hear me no matter where you are!”

“Whatever happened to ‘mom’?” Emma asked from behind Henry, landing close behind him so he bumped into her and jumped suddenly.

“Woah!” he sighed. “You scared me...woah...you look...different?”

“I know it takes some getting used to.” she smiled at him. “But this will be so much better for everyone, Henry, you’ll see.”

He shook his head. “No matter what you think, I will  _ never  _ think that you being the Dark One is a good idea.” 

“You’ll come around.” Emma said, her smile disappearing. “Besides, there’s no going back now, you’ll have to get used to it.”

“You would have never said that to me before.” he said. “The darkness is changing you, Emma.”

“The darkness keeps this town safe.” Emma said.

“You’re wrong.” Henry shook her head. “Darkness can  _ never  _ be a good thing, mom! You saw what happened to Rumplestiltskin...What happened to dad because of it.”

“Your dad died to save his cowardly father, Henry, the darkness had nothing to do with it. Rumplestiltskin was a waste of a man. And without his human side he was a waste of all this power.” Emma said.

“You’re starting to sound like him.” Henry said. “And like mom when she was still the evil queen.”

“Your mother was never evil. She was hurt and abandoned when she needed help the most and someone took advantage of her.” Emma said.

“I know.” Henry said. “That doesn’t make the things she did okay. And that doesn’t mean that she can do the same exact thing to you.”

“You’re too young to understand, Henry, when you grow up-”

“I’m not doing this with you.” he cut her off. “I’m here to talk to my mother, not the dark one, I don’t want to hear your excuses or hear you defend the evil queen. I don’t like that mom split herself up in two like that, I don’t like that you were feeling so lost like that. But there  _ had  _ to have been a better way than this. Darkness is never the answer. Good always has to prevail.”

“I’m still your mother, Henry. Darkness or not.” Emma said. “I’m doing all of this to keep the town safe. You can trust me, Henry.”

“Prove it.” Henry said. “Give me your dagger. I’ll give it back when we’re done talking.” 

Emma hesitated for a moment, but then summoned her dagger and handed it easily to him. Henry gripped it by the hilt and held it up.

“How do I know its the real deal?” he asked.

“Command me to do something.” Emma shrugged.

“And how will I know you’re not just doing it to convince me?” Henry asked again.

“You’re creative Henry, you’ll think of something.” Emma said. He narrowed his eyes at her and then held up the dagger. 

“...Say the alphabet backwards.”

Emma sighed and began reciting, and did so perfectly. Henry knew that there was no way his mother would be able to do that without magic and wouldn’t do it willingly.

“You couldn’t come up with something better?” Emma asked. Henry shrugged as he sheathed the dagger behind his back.

“Sit with me.” he said. Emma followed his lead and sat on the steps of the old wooden castle. “I know you’re better than this, mom.”

“Henry, I want you to understand, I really do. I just think this is one of those things that you’ll figure out when you’re older.” Emma said.

“I don’t agree. I don’t think I’ll ever understand. Good  _ always  _ wins over evil. You’re the saviour, mom!” he said.

“This town never really treated that title with respect before, Henry.” she said. “It was fine when I was breaking curses and saving kittens from trees, but when it came to listening to me and following my lead, they didn’t care.”

“People can be stupid mom but that doesn’t make them bad people, and it doesn’t mean you need to have some ancient, dark power to be able to control the,” Henry sighed. “I just want my mom back.”

“Henry it’s still me.” Emma said. “It’s just me with a little more say in what goes on in this town.”

“Mom is torn up.” he said. “So are grandma and grandpa. They’re all blaming themselves... I kind of messed up because I told them it was their fault and made them feel worse. But I was freaking out. I know good can win, Ma, I really do, but I need you to believe it as well.”

“I do believe it.” Emma said. “But I also believe that the only way to stop something is to control it. And me controlling the darkness means I can stop anyone else from trying anything else in this town. I’m trying to allow us to live in peace.” 

Henry shook his head. “If you let the darkness consume you, you’ll become the very thing you’re trying to prevent.”

“You know I won’t ever hurt you or anyone we love, Henry.” Emma said.

“What about if someone tries to hurt us?” Henry asked. “You killed Cruella.”

“She was going to kill you! It was an accident!” Emma defended herself.

“I know...I’m just worried that the next one...won’t be.” Henry shrugged. “I don’t want what happened with dad and Rumple to be our story as well.”

“It won’t be.” Emma said. “I promise.”

“Don’t make deals you can’t keep, ma, that should be the first thing you learn as the Dark One.”

“Henry…” Emma tried, but Henry pulled the dagger out from behind his back, throwing it down on the ground as he got up and walked away.

* * *

After Regina had calmed down, and Robin finally agreed to go home with the condition that Regina call him if she starts feeling distraught (which he requested out of mere concern,) Regina cleaned herself up and made her way to Snow and David’s loft. 

David had to obviously man the station and maintain some semblance of normalcy, since they agreed to keep the fact that Emma was now the Dark One from the rest of the town for now, to avoid causing a panic. Which meant that Snow was home alone.

The brunette was a little surprised to see Regina there, and was slightly hoping her sudden appearance meant that she’d found something in some ancient tome, but when Regina asked if she could have a word, that hope all but vanished.

“What’s going on?” Snow asked as she brought Regina a cup of tea. 

“There’s something I need to tell you, and I genuinely don’t know how you’re going to take it.” Regina gulped. “But if I don’t tell you then I don’t think there’s any chance of saving Emma and nothing is worth risking that.”

“Regina, what is it?” Snow said, trying to calm the woman’s obvious anxieties. Regina took a deep breath.

“You and David have been blaming yourselves for everything and the truth is that...I think I played a hand in it as well.” Regina said.

“What do you mean?” Snow asked gently.

“Snow...After the curse broke...And Emma and I had to work together in Neverland to get Henry back, and from just about every moment there on...I kind of…” Regina sighed. “I’ve been...slowly, but surely...falling in love with Emma.”

Snow didn’t say anything just yet, sensing that the brunette wasn’t finished.

“The problem is that I never thought I even deserved her time and attention, much less her love, after everything I did and the hand I played in messing up her life so much, what with the curse and all that.” Regina rambled on. “So...I focused on Robin, and the idea that he might be my true love. The more time I spent with him...the more I realized I wanted Emma. But I kept digging my head in the sand and blinding myself to reality...And as a result I ended up abandoning even the friendship I had built with Emma over the past few years. Part of the reason why she lacked control of her magic is my fault - I was supposed to teach her. But I kept her at arms’ length because I didn’t want her getting too close. And our magic together is so powerful I worried that it would only draw me closer to her.”

She stopped talking and started into her cup for as long as she could. Eventually, Snow cleared her throat to speak.

“I know you have feelings for Emma.” she said.

“You do?” Regina looked up at her. Snow nodded.

“Emma says that the evil queen is being genuine, and we know Emma’s ability to sniff out a liar. If she says the queen is being honest, then she is.” Snow said. “And I figure, if  _ she  _ has feelings for Emma...then you do as well.”

Regina nodded, sighing in relief at how calm Snow was being about all of this.

“I also know for a fact that Emma feels the same way about you.” Snow said. Regina looked up at her, hope lighting up her eyes.

“So it wasn’t some sick twisted fantasy I saw when I saw the Evil Queen kissing her in a mirror?” Regina said with a half smile.

“Well...I won’t comment on that little tidbit of voyeurism but…” Snow cleared her throat. “When I tried to talk to Emma, she was so... _ passionate  _ about what happened in your past to lead up to you casting the curse. She defended her throughout and refused to waiver. I only ever really saw that kind of passion when it came to…Well…”

“What, Snow?” Regina asked, waiting on baited breath for the shorter brunette to finish her sentence.

“When it came to true love.” Snow shrugged. Regina gawked at the younger woman.

“You...you don’t think…” she tried, Snow shrugged again.

“Anything is possible and you just said you two had very powerful magic. True love  _ is  _ the most powerful magic of all.” Snow rationalised. “I just don’t think it’s possible between you and her in your... _ current  _ state.”

“What do you mean?” Regina asked. Snow sighed.

“Regina, you ripped out a part of yourself and threw it away.” she said. “I know you think you removed your dark side. But your dark and light sides are two sides of the same whole. It’s like yin and yang. You can’t have one without the other. Emma loves you, all of you, good and bad. So when she’s only with one part of you or the other, she can’t ever be full in love with the half of you because it’s not the  _ whole  _ person that she loves.”

“What are you saying, Snow?” Regina said. Snow smiled at her. 

“I think I know how we can win Emma back, Regina, but first, you need to make peace with your dark side.”

* * *

Despite everything that was going on, Regina tried to keep some kind of routine for Henry so that his life wouldn’t, once again, be completely upended by magical mishaps and mayhem. That also meant maintaining a bedtime. 

That's how they found themselves sitting on Henry’s bed and discussing what was going on with Emma, and Regina couldn’t help but remember the last time they’d done this, the night she took the potion and separated the Evil Queen from herself. 

“Mom?” Henry began.

“Yes, dear?” she said, having just pulled the sheets over him.

“Can I tell you something?”

“Of course Henry, you can tell me anything.” Regina said, sitting on the edge of his bed. Henry sat back up, unable to stand laying down any further, and looked at his mother nervously.

“I don't want you to be mad at me, but...I talked to Emma today..” he said.

“Henry…” Regina sighed. “I know you’re worried about her, honey, but you need to be careful. I don’t believe Emma would ever harm you on purpose, but accidents happen.”

“I’m more than worried, mom.” Henry sighed. “I’m terrified...And...I’m kind of losing hope.”

“Henry the last thing you should ever do is lose hope.” Regina said. “I know hope can sting sometimes, but…”

Henry shook his head. “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.” Regina said.

“I know this might sound a little crazy, but then again what isn't crazy in our lives.” Henry shrugged. “Mom is there...do you...are you in love with Emma?”

Regina was startled by the question and hesitated to answer for a moment, but then concluded that more secrets and lies would only make this whole thing worse.

“Yes...Yes, Henry. I am.” she nodded. “I know it’s a little complicated-”

“It’s not, mom.” he smiled at her. “In fact it’s kinda cool...Do you think she loves you back?”

“I don’t want to get your hopes up for nothing Henry but from what I hear...yes, she might.” Regina said.

“Okay...well...if you love her that much then...you should keep this…” Henry said, turning over slightly and lifting his pillow. Regina raised a brow and wondered what he was about to give her, until he brandished the Dark One’s dagger, and Regina’s eyes went wide.

“Henry!” she said, taking the dagger from his hand. “What are you doing with this? How did you even get it?!”

“I told you I went to talk to her.” he said. “I may have...tricked her into giving it to me and then switched it out with a decoy.” 

Regina gaped at him. “I don’t know whether to be impressed that you managed to trick the dark one, or mad that you would resort to something like that.”

“I told you, mom, I’m losing hope that she’ll ever come back to normal.” Henry sighed. “You love her, and you’re good...So I took the dagger and I want you to have it because...Well maybe if we can’t get Emma back, at least we can control her so that she doesn’t hurt anyone.” 

“Henry!” Regina chided, shaking her head. “That’s…”

“Cruel.” Henry nodded. “I know. And I wouldn’t wish that on anyone but Mom...If you control her then you can stop her from doing bad things and stop her from being consumed by the darkness even more than she already is. Don’t get me wrong, I want us to figure a way to get her back...But...It’s the Dark One’s magic...It’s ancient and it’s pure evil. I don’t know if we can...we need to have a back up plan.”

Regina put the dagger down and scooted over on the bed to pull her son into a tight hug.

“I promise you I will do everything in my power to get your mother back, Henry. For all of us.” 


	8. Chapter 8

Emma’s lips skirted along the queen’s heated skin, hands roaming and exploring the body beneath them before landing on the spot that had the queen’s head falling back and caused a moan to escape her lips.

“Emma…” she sighed. The dark one grinned, gently nipping the skin at the queen’s shoulder before going up to her neck, finding a sensitive pulse point to bite before sucking on it, effectively marking the older woman, who’s hand was buried in silky white hair as she tried to hold Emma as close to her as possible. “...Em-ma.”

The blonde chuckled. 

_ Emma Swan. _

“What?” she frowned. The familiar voice in her head sounded so different, so far away. It was impossible for those words to have come from the same lips of the woman beneath her.

“I said...please...more.” the queen moaned. Emma’s fingers delved deeper into the queen, embedding themselves inside of her and slowly working the motions that she knew would drive the brunette crazy. “Em...Em-”

_ Emma Swan. _

Emma shook her head, desperately trying to ignore the summons, despite how strong the pull was that second time. She focused on the queen, and started moving her hand faster, getting a loud moan out of her as her hands gripped the silk bedsheets beneath them.

“Yes. Yes! Emma-”

_ Swan. _

“Oh fuck.” Emma sighed as she, unable to ignore the summons, disappeared in a cloud of black smoke.

“Emma?!” the queen exclaimed, looking around to see where she went. Suddenly, she felt an external source of fear mixed with slight excitement and worry. And she knew exactly where Emma had gone.

“Oh, she  _ definitely  _ has a fucking death wish.” the queen cussed.

* * *

Regina could tell what the queen and Emma were doing, and had to stop herself from letting it go on just to see if it would have the same effect on her. 

Instead she braced herself, and, standing in the Mayor’s office, called the Dark one’s name three times, dagger in hand.

The room filled up with black smoke, and when it all cleared, Emma was standing there, her hair loose and her jacket open. 

“You have no idea what hell you’ve just unleashed.” Emma said.

“Oh please, she’ll survive without an orgasm for five minutes.” Regina rolled her eyes. Emma raised a brow at her.

“But will you?” she teased.

“Don’t do that.” Regina said, accidentally issuing a command that Emma had to follow, so she shut up. “Oh...oops.”

“I’d be careful with that thing.” Emma said. “One wrong word and I might end up setting something on fire.”

“Sounds like me in the early days.” Regina rolled her eyes. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Besides you? Or well...A part of you.” Emma looked Regina up and down. “Not gonna lie, I miss the power suits. They’re a lot simpler than those dresses.”

“Emma.” Regina said. “This isn’t you. This attitude, the darkness is doing this to you.” 

“Great job, maybe they should make you Sheriff. I hear there’s an opening.” Emma rolled her eyes. “What the hell did you expect?”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“I mean I was drowning, Regina!” Emma spat. “You. My parents. Everyone. All you ever cared about was that I did my job as saviour, no one ever cared about what that meant for me.  _ You  _ were supposed to teach me magic but you decided to keep me at arms’ length because you couldn’t deal with your feelings!”

“How do you know what I feel?” Regina said angrily. “It’s not like you were making it easy with the pirate!”

“He’s long gone.” Emma said. “He was long gone before you ever even thought of taking that stupid potion.”

“I’ll admit that potion wasn’t the best choice I ever made.” Regina sighed.

“The queen feels every single thing you do.” Emma said, a small smile coming up on her lips. “Only she doesn’t hide them. She tells me how she feels...The last person I ever dreamt of having a relationship with ended up being the only one who gave half a damn about me!”

“Emma please...I’m sorry. I’ll fix this for both of us.” Regina said, stepping closer to the blonde. “But you need to trust me...You need to leave her.”

“You’re incredibly intelligent Regina, but you can be so  _ fucking  _ naive sometimes.” Emma scoffed. “I can’t love you without her. Just like I can’t love her without you...not completely.”

“What are you talking about?” Regina asked.

“You’re a whole person, Regina! You and her are the same! And despite what everyone else may have ever made you believe, I love you! All of you! The good and the bad!” Emma spat out, her anger and frustration reaching a head. “I can’t love you completely without her, and I can’t love her completely without you! Once again, because of  _ someone else’s  _ stupud fucking decisions, I’m being denied  _ my. Goddamn. Happiness!”  _

“Emma calm down.” Regina said, the control she had over the dagger taking the command and taking over Emma’s mind. The blonde tried to fight it, desperately, but the internal struggle brought her to her knees and made her scream. Regina was about to step towards her, when a fire ball flew across her path and she stepped back, looking towards the direction it came from and seeing the evil queen marching towards her angrily. 

“Let her go! Now!” she demanded. “Or I swear I will take you down, even if I have to take myself down with you!”

“No!” Emma roared. The queen didn’t pay much attention however, brandishing a sword through thin air and taking a wild swing at Regina, who rolled to the floor and slid beneath her desk. 

“Get out, you coward, what’s wrong? Can’t even face yourself?” the queen taunted.

“When myself is a fucking psychopath, I’d rather not.” Regina said. One wave of her hand, and the queen made the desk disappear, plunging the sword downward, but Regina rolled out of the way in time.

“Enough! Stop!” Emma tried.

“No. I’m sorry love, but I’m  _ tired  _ of her and everyone else trying to get in between the two of us. It ends now.” the queen announced. Regina stood up, blocking Emma from the queen’s vision and summoning her own sword. 

“Come on then.” Regina said, wielding the sword in one hand and the dagger in another. The queen rushed at Regina, swinging her sword and colliding it against Regina’s. The mayor bent her knees down and then pushed herself back up, pushing the queen off of her and sending her flying into the coffee table, which was crushed beneath her. 

A metal bowl suddenly flew at Regina’s head. She was able to dodge it, but it went soaring through the window. When Regina turned back, the queen was in her face, and was about to bring her sword down from above. Regina caught it with the dagger, which flew out of her hands and onto the floor, but she still resisted the queen with her sword, the blade pressed flat against her palm to keep it horizontal and keep the queen’s sword from reaching her. 

Suddenly, a burst of magic pulsed between them, sending them both flying apart and cushioning their fall. When they looked up, Emma was standing, her arms apart, casting the magic that was keeping them at bay.

“I. Said.  _ Enough!”  _ she roared. “Put your weapons down.  _ Now!” _

Both women reluctantly did so, and Emma released them from her grip, keeping a weary eye on each of them.

“I can’t believe you would defend her.” the queen said to Emma. “after everything she’s done.”

“It’s like I said, I can’t love one of you without the other.” Emma said. The queen’s features clearly showed the pain those words caused.

“What?”

Emma looked up at her with a dour frown. “I’m sorry...but it’s true. You’re each one half of the same whole. Why do you think we haven’t had true love’s kiss?”

“I figured that wasn’t in the cards for me.” the queen shrugged. Emma shook her head.

“It is...but only if you two are one person, not separated.” Emma said. “I’ve always loved all sides of you, I never split hairs. I can’t be truly in love with just one half or the other.” 

The two doppelgangers looked at each other and then back at Emma.

“If you really care about saving me...Then you need to make amends with yourselves.” she said. 

“She cast me aside!” the queen said. “For some...sick fantasy of being, what, pure?”

Regina shrugged. “I admit, that was...God...Probably the stupidest thing I’ve ever done. I thought I was doing it to make someone else happy.”

“That’s your problem, Regina.” the queen said. “Ever since you redeemed yourself all you ever care about is everyone else’s happiness, not your own.” 

“Caring about my own happiness first caused so much hell.” Regina shrugged.

“That doesn’t mean it will happen again.” Emma said. “The past won’t ever happen again, not unless we let it, you’ve come so far, why doubt yourself now.”

“In doubting yourself, you denied me my happiness, and then when I was free.” the queen shrugged. “I…”

She looked at Emma, sensing the powerful dark magic surrounding the blonde. 

“I let my fears get the better of me.” the queen gulped.

“Nothing is going to change if you two are separate.” Emma said. “You have quite a lot in common too...Henry.”

“He’s so terrified of everything that’s going on right now.” Regina said.

“I miss him.” the queen answered. Both women’s eyes landed on Emma, who looked at each of them and then looked down. 

“Is it worth a shot, for her?” Regina asked, nodding towards Emma. The queen stared at the blonde for a moment.

“She’s worth everything.” the queen said. “You and I both know that.”

They nodded and slowly approached each other, Emma watching the two of them as they did so.

“Emma?” We’ll need your help with this.” The queen instructed. Emma gave her a knowing look before giving the same one to Regina, who nodded.

Emma reached over into both their chests, finding one half of their heart in each woman. She slowly, and as gently as humanly possible, pulled them out. Each side beat at the same rhythm and the same time. Emma looked up at the queen.

“This isn’t goodbye.” the brunette said. “Remember that, I’m still here.”

Emma nodded. “I know you were misguided and scared. But...thank you. We wouldn’t have gotten this far otherwise.”

“Thank me later.” the queen winked at her, and with a small smile on her face, Emma slowly brought both halves of the heart together, delving deep within herself to find her light magic to heal the split between them and make it whole again. 

The queen walked towards Regina, grabbing her hands and slowly disappearing, fading into her as the heart fused together. 

Regina took a deep breath and looked at Emma, who smiled as she nervously approached the woman, placing her heart gently against her chest before slowly pushing it back in place.

“You did it.” Regina smiled at her.

“How do you feel?” Emma asked.

“Like good old me?” Regina chuckled, cupping Emma’s face gently. “And you…”

“Moment of truth?” Emma asked. Regina bit her lip and nodded. She gently wrapped her arms around Emma’s neck, pulling her closer. “If...if this doesn’t work…”

“We’ll figure it out, Emma, together.” Regina said. Emma gulped and nodded. Regina leaned closer, tilting her head slightly, and pressing their lips together. 

It took a second, though they felt the strong build up and understood why. A burst of magic came out from between the two of them, so strong it blew out the windows and triggered a few car alarms. Emma, for a moment disappeared in a burst of white light that surrounded her. Regina had to cover her eyes for as long as it shone. But eventually it faded, leaving good old Emma Swan in its wake, the dark one gone for good.

“It worked.” Emma sighed.

“Good…” Regina grinned at her. “Now come here.”

The brunette leapt into Emma’s arms, kissing her deeply. Emma held her close as she kissed her back, her hands threading through her hair. 

And they lived happily ever after.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [In Her Darkness [Fanart]](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25829404) by [NikiFrost](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NikiFrost/pseuds/NikiFrost)




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